The Konso people live in an isolated region within the Omo River Valley. Since the Konso people live within a hardship area, their villages are fortified by a stone wall used as a defensive barrier. The Konso people live within groups of communities whereby each community has a main hut.

A Konso community has to be through a main gate and into a maze of al-leyways. The alleyways are incorporated into the overall design of the communal village set up as a security measure that makes it difficult for enemy warriors to gain access into the village.

The Konso people are mixed agriculturists. They are known to grow crops even though the lands in which they live in are dry and infertile. They use animal dung from their cattle to fertilize the grounds on which they mainly grow sorghum. They use the sorghum as a flour for their meals and to also brew local beer. They also grow grains such as beans and maize.

According to Konso tradition, they have erect stone walls and poles around their communal villages in a traditional ceremony that is marked every 18 years. This is the ceremony that also marks the start of a new generation within their tribal community. By counting the number of generation poles in any Konso village, one is able to determine the age of the said village. The erection of stones and poles is part of the Konso tradition. The Konso mark their graves by placing carved wooden statues on top of the grave. They call these wooden markers Waka.