Zay people

Local tradition suggests that the Zay people comprise three streams of people that populated the islands of Lake Ziway between the early 9th and the mid-17th centuries. It is believed that the Zay people spoke the ancient Harla language.

The Zay economy is mainly based on subsistence agriculture and traditional fishing. The Zay people cultivate maize, sorghum, finger millet, teff, pepper and barley, and raise cattle, goats, sheep, donkeys and chicken. Island dwellers use papyrus boats for transport, while those on the shore use donkeys and horses.

Common health issues include malaria, schistosomiasis, diarrhoea and respiratory diseases. The Zay people generally have limited access to modern health care and primarily rely on medicinal plants, although (as elsewhere in the country) environmental and cultural factors threaten both medicinal plants and traditional medical knowledge.