The konso people live in the south Central Part of Ethiopia. The Konso are a Cushitic people. Their sharply delimited traditional territory is bounded by lands of Oromo peoples, to whom the Konso are culturally and linguistically related. Konso people are Cushitic people. They live in large towns, each governed by a council of elders.
They have a clan-based societal arrangement. The people are comprised of nine clans (gada). The clans’ structure is based on exogamy and patrilinearity.
They developed a defensive style of building, with villages on hilltops, protected by fortifications around them. Konso village is a graceful composition of rock walls and wood.
Their livelihood is largely dependent up on agriculture and involves the irrigation and terracing of mountain slopes. Sorghum and corn with cash crops including cotton and coffee are some of the Staple crops they produce while cattle, sheep, and goats are raised for food and milk.
They grow their crops on terraces, thus using every bit of land possible. They are also famous bee-keepers. The Konso are an efficient, resourceful, charming, careful, and hard-working people.
The Konso erect what are known as wakas, which are carvings created in memory of a dead man who has killed an enemy or animal. The statues are often arranged in groups, with statues representing the man, his wives, and his adversaries present.
The Gesergios village is commonly known as ‘’ New York village’’ due to its natural landscape with mountain structure that seems precisely a big city with modern buildings.
They are renowned for their wooden anthropomorph statuettes, erected in honor of important - deceased - people. The statuettes are called Waka in the Konso language.
Within the stone walled terraces and fortified settlements of Ethiopia's Konso highlands you'll find original living traditions that date back to more than 400 years. Over 21 generations, inhabitants have adapted to the dry, hostile environment by creating special social systems, engineering techniques and craft works including wooden statues grouped to represent noteworthy residents and heroic events. The statues are amazing standing remnants of funerary traditions that are in danger of disappearing.
Recently, the Konso people are hailed for their terracing system to conserve the soil from being eroded and preserving the environment in return. The konso terracing system is made to adopt the sloppy landscape. This in return has made the brainy Konso people to work on a terracing system that can go hand in hand with the landscape. The landscape and the terracing system have now been registered by the UNESCO as world heritage.