Lim’at is a tabia or municipality in the Dogu'a Tembien district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The tabia centre is in Maygwa village, located approximately 8 km to the southwest of the woreda town Hagere Selam.
Geography
The tabia stretches down from the Tsatsen plateau, across the main road towards Zeleqwa river.
Geology
From the higher to the lower locations, the following geological formations are present:
* deep, dark cracking clays, temporarily waterlogged during the wet season
Inclusions
* Rock outcrops and very shallow soils
* Rock outcrops and very shallow soils on limestone
* Deep dark cracking clays with very good natural fertility, waterlogged during the wet season
* Shallow stony dark loams on calcaric material
* Brown loamy soils on basalt with good natural fertility
Climate and hydrology
Climate and meteorology
The rainfall pattern shows a very high seasonality with 70 to 80% of the annual rain falling in July and August. Mean temperature in Maygwa is 17 °C, oscillating between average daily minimum of 9.4 °C and maximum of 24.4 °C. The contrasts between day and night air temperatures are much larger than seasonal contrasts.
Rivers
The Giba River's tributary, the Tanqwa is the most important river in the surroundings of the tabia. It flows towards Tekezze River and further on to the Nile. The rivers have incised deep gorges which characterise the landscape. The drainage network of the tabia is organised as follows:
Giba River
* Zeleqwa River, in tabiasMelfa and Lim’at, which becomes Ruba Dirho in Aregen and Degol Woyane, and Tanqwa River, in the woredasKola Tembien and Abergele
Whereas they are dry during most of the year, during the main rainy season, these rivers carry high runoff discharges, sometimes in the form of flash floods. Especially at the begin of the rainy season they are brown-coloured, evidencing high soil erosion rates.
Springs
As there are no permanent rivers, the presence of springs is of utmost importance for the local people. The main springs in the tabia are:
Mhtsab Alabu in Adawro
Hamute
Water harvesting
In this area with rains that last only for a couple of months per year, reservoirs of different sizes allow harvesting runoff from the rainy season for further use in the dry season.
Traditional surface water harvesting ponds, particularly in places without permanent springs, called rahaya
Horoyo, household ponds, recently constructed through campaigns
Settlements
The tabia centre Maygwa holds a few administrative offices, a health post, a primary school, and some small shops. Saturday is the market day. There are a few more primary schools across the tabia. The main other populated places are:
The population lives essentially from crop farming, supplemented with off-season work in nearby towns. The land is dominated by farmlands which are clearly demarcated and are cropped every year. Hence the agricultural system is a permanent upland farming system. The farmers have adapted their cropping systems to the spatio-temporal variability in rainfall.
History and culture
History
The history of the tabia is strongly confounded with the history of Tembien.
In the main villages, there are traditional beer houses, often in unique settings, where people socialise. Well known in the tabia are
Amete Kiros at Agerbi’a
Tekien Gebresellasie at Maygua
Tekien Alemayehu at Maygua
Roads and communication
The main road Mekelle – Hagere Selam – Abiy Addi runs across the tabia. There are regular bus services to these towns.
Tourism
Its mountainous nature and proximity to Mekelle make the tabia fit for tourism. As compared to many other mountain areas in Ethiopia the villages are quite accessible, and during walks visitors may be invited for coffee, lunch or even for an overnight stay in a rural homestead.
Geotouristic sites
The high variability of geological formations and the rugged topography invite for geological and geographic tourism or "geotourism". Geosites in the tabia include:
