SNNPRS divided into 13 zones, 8 special woredas, 22 town administrations and 125 rural woredas (a woreda is the equivalent to a district). Agriculture is the dominant activity with sedentary farming in the highlands and livestock and flood retreat farming in lowland areas. The main crops are coffee, maize, fruits, spices and enset – otherwise known as ‘false banana’.

LCD began working in the Wolaita Zone SNNPRS in 2007 and is planning to work with 125 schools in four woredas. The initial pilot phase will be with Damot Gale and Bolosso Sore woredas in the Wolaita Zone. Wolaita Zone consists of 12 rural woredas and 3 town administrations. The capital town is called Sodo. It is 130 km from Awassa. There are 300 primary schools and 8 secondary schools in the zone. The main language is Wolaitinya, and pupils learn in this language from grades 1 to 4. From grade 5 upwards, English becomes the language of instruction.

      
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Damot Gale woreda is situated 370km from Addis Ababa and consists of 31 rural kebeles (villages). The majority of the population of 188,000 live below the poverty line and have poor access to social services. There are 33 primary schools in this woreda, and approximately 35,000 primary school students. The area is very densely populated with more that 770 people per square kilometre.

Bolosso Sore Woreda is situated 330km from Addis Ababa and has a population of 201,000. It consists of 29 rural kebeles. Poverty levels are high and over-population is a major problem. There are 32 primary schools in this woreda, and more than 40,000 primary school students.