Menachek


Menachek is a tabia or municipality in the Tanqua Millash district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The tabia centre is in Addi Bayro village. Until January 2020 it belonged to the Dogu'a Tembien district.

Geography

The tabia occupies the flanks of the valley of the Tsech'i River that drains Dogu'a Tembien to the west. The highest peak is near Welekhlekha and the lowest place in the lower Tsech'i gorge.

Geology

From the higher to the lower locations, the following geological formations are present:

Geomorphology and soils

The main geomorphic units, with corresponding soil types are:
  • Hagere Selam Highlands, along the central basalt and sandstone ridge
  • * Associated soil types
  • ** shallow soils with high stone contents
  • ** moderately deep dark stony clays with good natural fertility
  • ** 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
  • Adigrat Sandstone cliff and footslope
  • * Associated soil types
  • ** complex of rock outcrops, very stony and very shallow soils
  • ** shallow, stony sandy loam soils
  • * Inclusions
  • ** shallow, dry soils with very high amounts of stones
  • ** deep, dark cracking clays with good fertility, but problems of waterlogging
  • ** soils with stagnating water due to an abrupt textural change such as sand over clay

Climate

The rainfall pattern shows a very high seasonality with 70 to 80% of the annual rain falling in July and August. Mean temperature in xxx is 17.4 °C, oscillating between average daily minimum of 9.6 °C and maximum of 24.8 °C. The contrasts between day and night air temperatures are much larger than seasonal contrasts.

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:
  • May Gfay
  • May Tsechi
  • Gigbana

Reservoirs

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 rahayaHoroyo, household ponds, recently constructed through campaigns

Settlements

The tabia centre Addi Bayro holds a few administrative offices, a health post, a primary school, and some small shops. There are a few more primary schools across the tabia. The main other populated places are:
  • Welekhlekha
  • Tsech'i
  • Gulha

Agriculture and livelihood

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. An elongated rugged landscape extends to the west of the tabia, which is used for transhumance.

History and culture

Caves and archaeological sites

The Danei Kawlos cave in the Tsech'i gorge at the west of Menachek at an elevation of about 2020 metres, is some 13.5 metres long. It contains lithic tools, potsherds, and faunal remains of Pastoral Neolithic age.
Further down, the May Ila open-air site in the Tsech'i gorge at the extreme west of Menachek at a height of about 1990 metres contains blades, blade cores, and a few potsherds of Pastoral Neolithic age.

History

The history of the tabia is strongly confounded with the history of Tembien.

Religion and churches

Most inhabitants are Orthodox Christians. The Gulha Maryam church with its large forest is located in the tabia.

''Inda Siwa'', the local beer houses

In the main villages, there are traditional beer houses.

Roads and communication

The main road Mekelle – Hagere Selam – Abiy Addi runs 2 to 5 km south and east of the tabia. There are regular bus services to these towns. Further, a rural access road links Addi Bayro and Welekhlekha to the main asphalt road.

Tourism

Its mountainous nature and proximity to Mekelle makes the tabia fit for tourism. The high variability of geological formations and the rugged topography invites for geological and geographic tourism or "geotourism".
Trekking routes 7 and 19 pass along the southern ridge in this tabia. The tracks are not marked on the ground but can be followed using downloaded.GPX files. They link Inda Maryam Qorar to Debre Sema'it rock church.
Facilities in Menachek are very basic.