ADMINSTRATIVE AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY OF GEDEB HASASA WOREDA, WEST ARSI ZONE FROM 1941-1991

This study aims to reconstruct the administrative and socio-economic history of reconstructing Gedeb Hasasa Woreda from 1941-991. The study used a qualitative research method and a purposive sampling technique. Interview, FGD, and archival document reviews were used as data collection tools. The study begins with a review of the history of Gada Hasasa, focusing on different historical developments that occurred after the end of the Italian occupation in 1941. The administrative history and territorial extension of Gedeb Hasasa were changed through time due to the political development and nature of the expanding powers. Agriculture is the most common economic activity of the rural population of the woreda. The farming system in the woreda is mixed farming of animal rearing and crop production. Trade also contributed to the economy of the study area. The factors that affected the study area were both natural and artificial factors, including the lack of infrastructure, lack of transportation system, and farming techniques that significantly affect the people and their production, including the expansion of road networks and modern residential houses, expansion of social services like the official recognition of muuda ceremony, expansion of literacy and the economic and social life of the people in Gedeb Hasasa woreda was negatively affected as insecurity of land tenure and heavy taxation system during the reign of Haile Sillassie. After Derg took power, several measures were taken, such as nationalizing land in rural areas, ending landlordism, and distributing land to landless peasants. Gedeb Woreda has made some improvements in the socio economic administration, followed by the conflicts and maladministration under the EPRDF regime. The study concludes that though the woreda was naturally endowed with fertile land, the impacts of the political system during the different periods became the major obstacle to their economy. Though there were relatively some changes in 1941-1991 in the Gedeb Hasasa woreda, the development of infrastructure that provides public and private services for the community was not as promising during the periods under discussion.2