The majority of Issa now live as agropastoralists. They cultivate sorghum and maize in the south of the zone, in the hilly area at the foot of the highlands, and mainly keep cattle. A total of 15-25% of the inhabitants of the Sitti zone are agropastoralists. This way of life has already entered the Dembel since about 1965. In other areas, cattle breeders started to cultivate agriculture, especially in the early 1990s. They were able to reduce their cattle herds and adapt themselves to the recurring droughts. The transition to Agropastoralism was also promoted by the Ethiopian government. In addition, the Somali wanted to catch up with Oromo peasants from the highlands, who increasingly went to the lowland to cultivate the Somalis land claimed there. The most important livelihoods are livestock farming and some arable farming. 75-85% of the population - especially the Issa are cattle breeders, mainly sheep and cattle, in less productive areas camels and goats. Even households which do not have camel herds, at least keep a camel as a beast of burden. In the dry season, sheep and dairy-producing animals remain near the villages, while camels, cattle and goats are kept in other pastoral areas. The cattle breeders mainly feed on the milk and ghee produced therefrom, they also sell cattle and mainly buy sorghum and sugar. Since the illegal cessation of vast swathes of land in 2012 to the afar region by the previous government headed by the incarcerated president Mr Abdi Iley, this area has been a hotbed for human rights abuses. Frequent conflict, constant intrusion by afar militias and mass killing of local inhabitants has displaced thousands of the local Issa somali. The Ethiopian central government have thus far been muted. The lands in question were previously administered under sitti zone and the major inhabitants are ethnic somali people, self determination votes as stated by the constitution of Ethiopia should solve the issue if given a formal go ahead by the central government.
Climate
The Sitti Zone has cold winters than the highlands, while the lowlands has mild winters. The region elevation is the major factor in temperature levels, with the higher areas, on average, as 17°C cooler, day or night. Hot summer days are tempered by the low relative humidity and cooler evenings during summer months since, for most of the state, the highest diurnal difference in temperature is often in the summer. The annual mean statistics for some Sitti Zone centres is shown below:
Town
Min. Temp
Max. Temp
Rainfall
Shinile
Dewele
Bike
Āfdem
Aysha
Demographics
Based on the 2017 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, this Zone has a total population of 1 250,320 of whom 650,120 are men and 405,100 women. While 86,493 are urban inhabitants, a further 505,410 were pastoralists. Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, this Zone has a total population of 457,086 of whom 246,302 are men and 210,784 women. While 64,263 or 14.06% are urban inhabitants, a further 203,285 or 44.47% were pastoralists. Two largest ethnic groups reported in Sitti were the Somalis and Amhara ; all other ethnic groups made up 1.55% of the population. Somali language is spoken as a first language by 96.91%, Amharic by 1.36%, and Oromo by 1.34%; the remaining 0.39% spoke all other primary languages reported. 98.35% of the population said they were Muslim. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 205,180 of whom 121,094 were men and 84,086 were women; 14.88% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Shinile was the Somali ; a similar share spoke Somali. Only 12,085 or 3.4% were literate. According to a May 24, 2004World Bank memorandum, none of the inhabitants of Sitti have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 17.3 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers, the average rural household has 1.2 hectare of land and the equivalent of 1.4 heads of livestock. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 387.
Agriculture
On 5–23 November 2003, the CSA conducted the first ever national agricultural census, of which the livestock census was an important component. For the Somali Region, the CSA generated estimated figures for the livestock population and their distribution by commissioning an aerial survey. For the Sitti Zone, their results included:
