Ecosystem Health and Sustainability

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Corporate environmental responsibility in

Ethiopia: a case study of the Akaki River Basin

Abebe Amare

To cite this article: Abebe Amare (2019) Corporate environmental responsibility in Ethiopia:
a case study of the Akaki River Basin, Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, 5:1, 57-66, DOI:
10.1080/20964129.2019.1573107

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ECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY
2019, VOL. 5, NO. 1, 57–66
https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2019.1573107

Corporate environmental responsibility in Ethiopia: a case study of the Akaki

River Basin
Abebe Amare
Department of Governance and Development Studies, Wolkite University

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This research is aimed at investigating Corporate Environmental Responsibility in Received 24 July 2018
Revised 31 December 2018
Manufacturing Enterprises in the Akaki River basin on protecting the urban environment
Accepted 15 January 2019
with particular emphasis on twenty selected industries. To attain its objective, the study
employed a mixed methods research approach. Data were collected by employing tools such
as questionnaire, key informant interview, group discussions and observation. The findings of KEYWORDS
the research show that corporate environmental responsibility is very low. The majority of Corporate environmental
Large Scale Industries encompassed in the survey did not show considerable effort on responsibility; Akaki River;
protecting the environment responsibly. The reasons identified by this research are among Addis Ababa; large-scale
others the absence of corporate environmental responsibility, low pressure from the enfor- manufacturing industries;
industrial effluents
cing institutions, and lack of financial and human resources. As a result, the Akaki River is
highly polluted mainly through toxic industrial effluents released with little or no prior
treatment. The consequences are countless. The populations living across the river are facing
health deteriorations and economic damages. Based on the findings of this study, setting up
strong institutions which are capable of developing new laws and implementing the existing
environmental legal framework is commended.

Introduction Policy of Ethiopia directly or indirectly address

urban environment management issues. Articles 3(7)
The literature reviewed illustrates that urban environ-
and 3(8) of the environmental policy address issues
ment has much to do with pollutions caused through
related to Human Settlement, Urban Environment and
the course of industrialization (Langeweg, Hilderink, &
Environmental Health, Control of Hazardous Materials
Mass, 2000, Douglass, 1999). This is mainly because the
and Pollution from Industrial Waste (FDRE 1997).
cradle of the urbanization process is the result of modern
The legal environmental regulatory framework is lar-
industrialization (WAN Yongkun et al, 2013). Because
gely promising, at least in principle. Yet, practices reveal
most industries are located within and/near to urban
that environmental management is a policy responsibility
settlements, the urban environment is severely exposed
of the Environmental Protection Authority and its allies
to pollution and degradation. Considering the life-
in Ethiopia (Melese 2009). There is a lack of information
threatening nature of environmental troubles through-
on either corporations are governing the natural envir-
out the world, global organizations and individual states
onment responsibly or worse exhausting it.
are designing different mechanisms on how to resolve
Unfortunately, there is inadequate information on
problems of the natural environment.
corporate environmental management in developing
The United Nations General Assembly, for exam-
countries, especially on the African continent
ple, in its resolution 45/94 (1990) reaffirmed the
(Nukpezah 2010). The need for capacity building
Stockholm declaration by stating that “all individuals
and technology transfer to less developed countries,
are entitled to live in an environment adequate for
such as Ethiopia, remains an important developmen-
their health and well-being” and calls for enhanced
tal agenda. As the focus in Ethiopia, manufacturing
efforts toward ensuring a “better and healthier envir-
industries are predominantly located along water-
onment” Abadir Ibrahim, (2009, 62–74).
courses and coastal wetlands and the discharge of
An additional argument would make a case that the
untreated wastes into these water bodies and the
Ethiopian Constitution clearly declares that “all persons
adjacent area has resulted in gross pollution of these
have the right to a clean and healthy environment”
regions. Pollution and the threat of more pollution
(FDRE Constitution, 1995). The constitution also pro-
from industry thus remain real (Janka 2007, 1–34).
claims that the Government has a duty to struggle to
Recent studies on the environment (e.g., Damtie and
ensure that all Ethiopians live in a “clean and a healthy”
Kebede (2012), Feyisa (2016), Getu (2013), Aregawi
environment. Some of the articles of the Environmental

CONTACT Abebe Amare [email protected] Department of Governance and Development Studies, Wolkite University
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis Group and Science Press on behalf of the Ecological Society of China.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
58 A. AMARE

(2014)) further state that Ethiopia’s past development neatly reasonable to ask the following key research
has been highly criticized due to lack of integrating questions:
environmental concerns into the development agendas.
How are manufacturing industries treating their
Nevertheless, in order to ensure sustainable develop- industrial waste? Do they have an adequate facility,
ment, it is essential to integrate environmental concerns capacity, commitment, and knowledge?
into development activities, programs, and policies.
Consequently, though, it is just from the start, How appropriate and to what extent effective are
environmental laws in controlling environmental pol-
pollution from the industrial sector in Ethiopia has lution from the Manufacturing Industries?
been on the rise, posing a serious problem to the
environment. Many industrial processes produce pol-
luting waste substances that are discharged to the Description of the study area and research
environment (Aregawi 2014). Among the most pol- methodology
luting industries are textiles, tanneries, and beverage Description of the study area
& food processing industries with processing plants
and factories that produce liquid effluents which are Addis Ababa lies at an altitude of 2300 m above sea
discharged into rivers, often without treatment. In level and is a grassland biome, located at 9°1′48″ N and
Addis Ababa, rivers frequently receive polluting dis- 38°44′24″ E. The city lies at the foot of Mount Entoto
charges from many different sources all at the same and forms part of the watershed for the Awash River
time (Eshetu 2012). Therefore, curbing dangerous Basin. The Akaki River Basin is part of the city of
industrial pollution from the start requires the Addis Ababa (MEFCC 2005).
engagement of every stakeholder. The Akaki River Basin is located in the central
Existing literature on environmental governance in Ethiopian highlands near the western edge of the
Ethiopia takes no notice of the notion of Corporate Main Ethiopian Rift System. Akaki River is located
Responsibility. Most writings, though they are in short between 8°16ʹ N and 37°57ʹ E. The total surface area
quantity, are not investigating the environmental govern- of the catchment is 1462 km. Large mountains and
ance in its entirety. Scores of research studies conducted various volcanic rocks characterize the watershed
on air and water pollution (Van Rooijen and Taddesse boundary. The elevation varies from 2060 m above sea
2009, Kumie 2009) and deforestation, degradation, and level in the south around the Akaki well field to 3200 m
climate change (Tedla and Kifle 1998). Nonetheless, the above sea level in the northern Entoto Mountains. The
corporate aspect of Environmental Governance seems to entire catchment is bounded to the north by the Entoto
be overlooked. Previous researches are conducted ridge system, to the west by Mt Menagesha and the
assuming the government as a sole vanguard actor in Wechecha volcanic range, to the southwest by Mt
protecting the environment. Furi, to the south by Mt Bilbilo and Mt Guji, to the
As the central goal of this research is to examine southeast by the Gara Bushu Hills and to the east by the
Corporate Responsibilities to Environmental Mt Yerer volcanic center (MEFCC 2005).
Governance and the mechanisms through which
these factors operate, inquiries call into question the Research methodology
degree to which the regulatory and legal framework
governing environmental protection addresses this A combination of quantitative and qualitative research
problem. Further, it is going to address subjects methods was used to collect data from respondents.
related to corporate environmental challenges of The nature of research problems most often dictates
Ethiopia, with emphasis on the urban environmental the methodology of the study. This study focuses on
governance. In addition, this study seeks to document examining the responsibilities of corporations in gov-
the extent to which environmental governance is on erning and protecting the urban environment. Both
the corporate agenda in Ethiopia. practices (actual performance) and opinions regarding
the issue were measured. Given the fact that subjective
opinions and verified performances require different
Objective of the study mechanisms to deal with, this study ascribes itself into
The overall objective of this study is to investigate a mixed research approach/design.
corporate environmental responsibility (CER) practices
in large-scale manufacturing enterprises in the Akaki Types, sources, and tools of data
River Basin in protecting the urban environment. Both primary and secondary types of data have been
used throughout this study. The primary data were
collected from in-depth key-informants interview
Research questions
with corporate heads and high-ranking government
This thesis looks at CER; what are and should compa- officials (key informants were selected based on their
nies be doing? Given the problem discussed above, it is significance to the problem), 20 mixed format survey
 ECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY 59

questionnaire, and direct personal site observation on Table 1. Corporate environmental policy.
the field (in order to triangulate the results from My organization has an environmental policy
questionnaires and personal interviews and get the Frequency Percent Cumulative percent
actual practice on the ground, the researcher went to Yes 14 70.0 70.0
No 6 30.0 100.0
the study area for an observation and fact-finding). Total 20 100.0
The secondary data, on the other hand, were con- Source: own survey, 2017.
sulted from books, journals, the Internet, government
policies, and corporate reports.
Companies which have no waste treatment plant and
actually highly pollutant claimed to have an official
Sample and sampling procedure
environmental policy. Having the policy, however, the
Company selection was made based on the three factors
absolute majority of these companies are not moving
such as company size, location, and pollution status.
for the implementation. For example, the National
Samples were selected purposively as deemed appropriate
Alcohol Factory (Mekanisa plant) has an environmental
for the study based on the parameters mentioned above.
policy and claims it is working for the protection of the
Therefore, large-scale and highly polluting industries,
environment. The company also displays a large banner
located along the near post of the Akaki River Basin
outside the gate stating as “it is committed to working
system (approximately 200 m) have been the subject of
for environmental protection.” In spite of this claim
investigation. Based on these measures, 20 large-scale
though, the company has no Effluent Treatment Plant.
manufacturing firms were selected as samples of this
The industrial waste is directly released to the nearby
research. The criteria to decide the firms’ size as Large,
river without any prior treatment. During the observa-
Medium, or Small are based on the Ministry of Industry’s
tion, the researcher witnessed many cases similar to the
(MoI) classification system. All firms in the survey satis-
National Alcohol Factory (personal observation, 2017).
fied the MoI’s parameter for “large-scale manufacturing
Similarly, manufacturing industries were also
industry.”
asked about the ISO 14001 series environmental stan-
dards accreditation as a measure for good environ-
Data presentation, analysis, and interpretations mental management system. From the total of 20
This study has used descriptive statistics as a method of companies consulted in the survey, only 3 were
data analysis with concurrent triangulation. Quantitative found accredited with ISO 14001 Environmental
data collected through survey questionnaires have been Standard Accreditation, while the vast majorities (17
organized and entered into the statistical package for companies) are not yet accredited for ISO 14001
social sciences (SPSS version 21) software to result in environmental standards as an initiative to manage
descriptive statistics and to examine the problem under the environment (see Table 2). These standards have
study. In addition, qualitative data gathered through been designed to help enterprises meet their environ-
focus group discussion and key informant interview mental management systems needs such as the setting
were described qualitatively to corroborate the question- of goals and priorities, assignment of responsibility
naire data. for accomplishing them, measuring and reporting on
results, and external verification of claims. As per the
Results and discussion researcher’s perception, lots of large-scale manufac-
turing industries are not registered for ISO 14001
Results standards accreditation because they fail the require-
Throughout the survey, 20 large- and medium-scale ments compulsory for it. Such requirements as many
manufacturing industries located near to the Akaki are not treating their industrial effluents properly,
River were studied. It has been found accordingly they have no environmental policy, and an internal
that majority of these sample firms are seriously unit for environmental protection, etc. (own survey,
polluting the urban environment. Though not fault- 2017).
less, there are few corporates working on the protec- Trends on CER throughout the world show that
tion of the urban environment, where they are companies that respond effectively to the challenges of
operating. However, this does not mean that all gov- sustainability can gain a competitive advantage, exploit
ernment environmental regulatory standards are fully
applied to these corporates.
Table 2. Corporate ISO accreditation.
How dedicated to corporate environmental My organization is an ISO accredited.
responsibility are companies in Akaki River Basin? Frequency Percent Cumulative percent
Yes 3 15.0 15.0
In this current study, 14 out of the total 20 corporates No 17 85.0 100.0
included in the survey replied they have a policy dealing Total 20 100.0
with the treatment of hazardous waste (see Table 1). Source: own survey, 2017.
60 A. AMARE

new market opportunities, boost market share, increase Table 4. Effluent released from Walia Tannery to the Akaki
shareholder value, and become more profitable. River.
Improved Corporate Environmental Governance is Limit Analysis
Parameter analyzed value result Remark
one way to respond to these challenges (Table 3). Temperature, °C 40 20 In the limit
Above all, 75% of companies consulted in the PH 6–9 7.4 In the limit
survey believed that they are cooperating with the Total suspended solid, mg/L 50 635 Above limit
Sulfide (S2-), mg/L 1 1.20 Above limit
Ethiopian government to work for the protection Total nitrogen (T-N), mg/L 60 325 Above limit
of the environment. But this cooperation is Total phosphorous (T-P), mg/L 10 21 Above limit
Chemical oxygen demand 500 2790 Above limit
mainly regular environmental reporting to EPA (COD), mg/L
organs. This type of cooperation is always obliga- Ammonia (NH3), mg/L 30 234 Above limit
Chloride (CL-), mg/L 1000 2625 Above limit
tory by the authorities. Therefore, voluntary coop- Phenol, mg/L 1 13.95 Above limit
eration for emission reduction and pollution Source: AAEPA, 2016, Interview.
control is minimal as corporates in Ethiopia lack
environmental responsibility.
Industry Assessment Report of Addis Ababa the AAEPA inspection are very rudimentary and
Environmental Protection Authority (AAEPA) 2016 constructed mainly for the time of inspection by the
revealed that very large numbers of Manufacturing authority. Solid and liquid waste treatment system of
Industries are reluctant on cooperating with the gov- the case corporates is poor. Thus, effluent liquid,
ernment regulatory organs. The corporate move for which inevitably made its way into the waterway, is
pollution control and emission reduction is negligi- polluting the Akaki River system (AAEPA, 2016,
ble. It further states that a few large- and medium- Interview).
scale manufacturing industries provide environmen- Furthermore, this study showed that the amount
tal report periodically (AAEPA, 2016, Interview). of water used in the production process, the amount
of wastewater discharged into the river, and the level
of Effluent Treatment are not known. This poses
How do companies place corporate environmental difficulty in taking mitigation measures and measur-
responsibility into exercise? ing the economic cost of pollution. Hence, the con-
Knowing that manufacturing industries use hazar- sequences of pollution from these industries on the
dous chemicals during operation, corporates are neg- environment cannot be clearly recognized. Because
ligent to effectively treat their industrial effluent. all large-scale manufacturing industries in Addis
During the field observation, there was no any Ababa are established along rivers and release
large- and medium-scale manufacturing industry a large amount of waste (known for very bad smell)
with effective effluent treatment plant in operation, to the Little Akaki River, the downstream community
especially across the little Akaki River system. Some calls the river as “Leather River” – associated with the
have primary-level treatment systems. But hazardous leather industries (Fig. 1).
chemicals such as chrome cannot be easily treated Asked for the reasons of why are these compa-
with the conventional treatment plant and even nies not complying with the government environ-
worse, these primary-level treatment plants are not mental framework, government regulatory organs
functioning consistently (personal observation, 2017). responded to the absence of CER. Several corpo-
The following table shows the laboratory analysis rates are reluctant to set up a permanent internal
result of industrial effluents which Walia Tannery environmental protections unit which can help to
releases directly to the river. The effluents of the com- facilitate environmental protection (AAEPA, 2016,
pany have only met 2 parameters, temperature and PH Oromia Regional State EPA, 2016, Interview).
value, among the 10 parameters set by the government
regulatory organ as a maximum permissible limit
(Table 4). Installing an effluent treatment plant and
Awash Tannery does not comply with all the gov- compliance with government regulatory standards
ernment environmental regulatory frameworks. The as a measure of environmental protection
waste treatment plants erected by this company after Slightly half of the companies in the survey admitted
that they do not have effluent treatment plant yet,
Table 3. Factor(s) which triggered the company for environ- while 55% of companies replied they already have
mental work. installed effluent treatment plant (see Table 5). An
Frequency
interview with AAEPA Environmental Protection
Factor(s) The Ethiopian government 16
Competition 3 and Inspection Unit showed that manufacturing
Self-initiation 6 companies with proper effluent treatment plant are
Missing system 3
Total 28
very few, usually beverage industries. Many large-
Source: own survey, 2017. and medium-scale manufacturing industries have
 ECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY 61

Figure 1. Mishandled solid waste from Awash Tannery.

Image credit: AAEPA, April 2016

Table 5. Waste treatment plant. City, the researcher witnessed chrome waste, one of
My organization has waste treatment the most toxic industrial wastes, released to the river
plant in operation
without prior treatment. It was the worst case the
Frequency Percent Valid percent Cumulative percent
researcher has seen during the observation and the
Yes 11 55.0 55.0 55.0
No 9 45.0 45.0 100.0 factory denied access to give information about it
Total 20 100.0 100.0 (Fig. 2).
Source: own survey, 2017. During the observation, the researcher also wit-
nessed that urban farmers are using the Akaki River
a treatment plant mainly primary level, built for water for irrigation in spite of its pollution status. The
purpose of inspection by the EPA organs. By and dependence on the river water increases in the down-
large, these primary-level treatment plants are not stream places along the river. According to the data
functioning consistently (own survey, 2017). from AAEPA and Oromia EPA, the users know that
The researcher has conducted a field observation the river water is dangerous and they even call it
across some parts of the Akaki River Basin system. In “toxic water” and they believe the river is dead.
March 2017, the observation was started at the mid- Though, knowing the water is “toxic,” farmers are
dle section of the Little Akaki on three tributaries producing vegetables using the river. The researcher
draining through different areas of Addis Ababa. gathered a photo of sample vegetables grown using
The observation was conducted in areas where the extremely polluted Little Akaki river water
large- and medium-scale industries are located. On around Gofa-Gabriel area, Addis Ababa (Fig. 3).
the way through, it was observed that many indus- Therefore, protecting the urban environment
tries across the river dispose of their effluent directly especially from industrial pollution would have
into it. It is easy to see the industrial waste joining the a tremendous impact on the health of the urban
river water through open sources. For instance, in an population. During the course of my observation,
area called “Garment Sefer,” Nefas-selk-Lafto Sub the researcher observed a number of open waste

Figure 2. Chrome liquid waste heading toward the river without prior treatment.
Image credit: The researcher, April 2017
62 A. AMARE

Small scale irrigation of Akaki River Vegetables grown using the polluted
water Akaki River water

Figure 3. Urban agriculture using badly polluted water in Akaki River Basin. Polluted water (left) and sample vegetables grown
(right).
Image credit: The researcher, April 2017

sources from the operating companies around the that the major reasons for the absence of recycling
river bank of Akaki releasing their liquid wastes process water are deficient capacity, facility, and
directly into the river. This plainly supports the human resources of many large-scale manufacturing
argument explained in previous sections of this industries.
chapter that the presence of the industries in the As per AAEPA (2017, Interview), corporates oper-
river banks is just for easy discharging of their liquid ating along the Akaki River Basin have shown no sign
wastes into rivers. This is highly deteriorating the of effluent limitation or emission monitoring as
quality of the river in particular and degrading the a means of environmental responsibility and account-
environment of Addis Ababa in general. ability. It also adds that they have never been abiding
by the law throughout their establishment.
Compliance for government regulations and Consequently, environmental health is abandoned.
previous achievements on environmental According to AAEPA deputy manager, his office
protection and other collaborative environmentalists face accu-
Majority of manufacturing industries were not con- sations from the government’s “developmental insti-
forming to the government’s environmental regula- tutions” as anti-development actors which work to
tory requirements nor also showing sympathy for obstruct development efforts. The deputy manager
responsible corporate environmental governance. As adds that the government shows greater adherence
a result, pollution is alarmingly increasing in the to economic growth at any. Balancing the economic
Akaki River Basin and adjacent areas due to residues thirst and ecological preservation is the major chal-
of industries known as effluents released in water and lenge in Ethiopia. According to the manager, the
land without any treatment which pollutes the water government of Ethiopia is Blameworthy for the ill
and land, affecting the biotic life, surface water, and health of the environment (AAEPA deputy manager,
underground water. Industrial wastes particularly 2017, Interview).
hazardous waste and radioactive waste have also Furthermore, the survey respondents were also
become a major environmental pollution problem asked about environmental-related accomplishments
(EEPA, EIA Unit, Interview result, (2017)). so far. Very few companies are working on pollution
Because the majority of large- and medium-scale control and emission reduction other than the
industries located along the Akaki River lack effective enforced periodic environmental reporting for
Effluent Treatment Plant in operation, recycling pro- AAEPA. This is a good evidence that shows compa-
cess water found to be minimal. Even companies nies are not responsibly working to protect the envir-
which claimed to have waste treatment plant do not onment and owing to ethical concern for justice. As
use process water because their treatment is mostly companies keep going irresponsible to manage the
primary level (personal observation, 2017). environment, it is very obvious the natural environ-
Very few companies can recycle process water ment where industries are operating around will also
which is badly polluted with toxic chemicals. have an impact beyond that area (own survey, 2017).
Otherwise, the wastewater enters into primary-level Authorities confirm that farmers are discouraged
Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) and/or released to upkeep, develop their farmland and increase out-
directly to the nearby river. But many other large- put and lose cattle (the most invaluable assets to the
and medium-scale industries release polluted waste farmer) due to the pollution from industries and
into the river without prior treatment let alone recy- households in the upper stream. This setting leads
cling it. An interview with corporate heads illustrates to a grave situation of financial crisis to these farmers.
 ECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY 63

The study further explores that pollution of the Akaki However, back here in the developing countries such
River water bears a great impact on the health of the as Ethiopia, many corporations are not responsible for
residents across the adjacent areas across the river. the environment. Corporates do not tell the correct
Above all, abortion of women is very common due to information about the share of their business to the
the bad smell from the polluted river and direct and environmental pollution nor do they have the facility
indirect consumption of the Akaki River water. And to measure the impact of pollution (AAEPA, 2016,
more, asthma and premature deaths associated with Interview).
industrial pollution are high in the area.
Highly polluting manufacturing industries should Corporate environmental responsibility in action?
undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental According to the AAEPA Environmental Protection
responsibility and support a precautionary approach to and Law Enforcement Department, it is hardly possi-
environmental challenges. The precautionary strategies ble to find a company completely meeting the govern-
would consist of avoiding and reducing waste; using ment environmental regulatory requirements. Almost
recycling and environmentally friendly disposal sys- all the Manufacturing Industries lack the comprehen-
tems; conserving natural resources by using raw mate- sive effluent treatment mechanism thus failing to meet
rials and energy responsibly; and using environmentally the government regulatory standard. However, there
friendly technology in research and production. By are few companies taking the environmental protec-
doing so, companies would increase safety in the work- tion to their front agenda and working toward achiev-
place and protect the environment and the local com- ing this goal (AAEPA Environmental Protection and
munities. Responsible Corporate Environmental Law Enforcement Department, 2017, Interview).
Governance, therefore, is a must for sustainable and This is absolutely against the environmental pollu-
healthy development. tion proclamation 300/2002 Article 4 which states
that “no person shall pollute or cause any other
person to pollute the environment by violating the
Discussion
relevant environmental standard.” “Person” for this
Corporate concern in corporate environmental case is the juridical one (corporates). The proclama-
responsibility tion on Article 3/1 states that the generation, keeping,
Corporates need to feel responsibility beyond return to storage, transportation, treatment, or disposal of any
shareholders to include an acknowledgment of its hazardous waste without a permit from the Authority
responsibilities to a broad range of stakeholders through- or the relevant regional environmental agency is pro-
out society such as employees, customers, business part- hibited (FDRE 2002b).
ners, communities, and the environment. Big corporates Recognizing the fact that leather and footwear
need to have faith in the idea that not only public policy industries are severely polluting the environment,
but companies, too, should take responsibility for envir- the authority has penalized some six severely pollut-
onmental and social issues in their sphere. They should ing industries in 2015 (AAEPA, 2016, Interview).
seek for the responsible action to be undertaken for the Awash, Walia, Addis Ababa, Dire, Batu, and New-
environmental protection as well as meeting self-interest wing Tanneries were among the manufacturing
beyond the legal compliance (Grossman 2005). industries penalized by the authority. The measure
A joint study by Addis Ababa and Oromia EPA which was taken after the assessment was a total
Bureaus uncovered that manufacturing industries in closure of the companies. However, the decision to
Addis Ababa lack the self-commitment to protect the stay was just a matter of a few days. The companies
environment. Let alone having self-regulatory returned to operation with a warning not to further
mechanisms to acting responsibly, these industries pollute the river. The decision was lifted on condi-
are not even abiding by the government regulatory tions of building wastewater treatment plant, moni-
requirements because CER involves a self-motivated toring emission, and establishing an internal
concern for environmental protection beyond legal environmental unit and environmental management
regime controlling mechanisms (AAEPA & Oromia system (AAEPA, 2017, Interview).
Region EPA, 2016, Interview). What is more, the penalty for breach of environ-
Compliance with the national and international mental law itself could also be one reason for the low
environmental protection regulatory frameworks is, performance of manufacturing industries on protect-
without a doubt, an indispensable for the protection ing the environment. Environmental Pollution
of the natural environment. The literature on CER Control Proclamation No. 300/2002 Article 12/1/b
shows that corporates in the developed world are imposes a punishment for the environmental offenses
moving beyond the compulsory legal requirements in the case of a juridical person, “to a fine of not less
for the protection of the environment which they than 10,000 Birr and not more than 20,000 Birr”
consider it as working for a good corporate profile (FDRE 2002b). Therefore, these companies prefer to
for their business (Khanna and Anton 2002; Li 2006). discharge their industrial effluent directly to the river
64 A. AMARE

than incurring a higher cost for waste treatment plant Table 6. Trace metal content in vegetable leafs in Addis
erection because of the small amount of the fine Ababa.
coupled with low monitoring and assessment from Metal content (mg/kg)

government organs. Vegetable Cd Cr Cu Hg Ni Zn

Cabbage 0.030 1.80 3.28 0.218 0.64 29.7
Onion 0.018 2.81 5.24 0.201 0.44 15.4
Compliance to the government policies Potato 0.076 2.26 8.72 0.355 1.75 47.4
Complying with government regulatory standards Red beet 0.057 2.87 8.92 0.142 1.47 27.3
Swiss chard 0.044 1.25 8.96 0.218 0.79 38.1
and moving beyond these compulsory requirements Source: Van Rooijen and Taddesse (2009).
is not free lunch. According to Desjardins (1998),
CER recognizes that business is always going to
authority. However, predominantly, old aged and
have a challenge of balancing profitability with the
high-profile polluting industries remained defiant to
obligations of ethics – helps to set minimum require-
the environmental laws and challenge the EPA organs
ments. But beyond the minimum of what we must do
(Oromia EPA 2017).
there is a side of ethics which talks about doing good
The finding of the research also uncovered that there is
and actually going beyond the minimum target.
no single manufacturing company entirely conformed to
Furthermore, it is the ability of a company to
the requirements as far as the maximum permissible
improve its profits and environmental performance
limits are concerned. Completely conforming to the
simultaneously through resource conservation and
requirement is not that much easy though. But there are
pollution control strategies (Desjardins 1998,
very few large- and medium-scale manufacturing indus-
825–838). However, in practice, corporates in the
tries nearly conforming to the government requirements.
developing world are usually thinking of now not
As shown in the previous sections and observed during
the future (Nukpezah 2010).
the survey, local market-oriented beverage companies
Effluent wastes being discharged from such indus-
better perform on protecting the environment while the
tries without treatment can carry toxic heavy metals
absolute majority of industries prefer to overexploit the
and organics that are harmful to the plant and ani-
local environment and win economic benefit. This is
mals as well as humans coming in contact with it.
utterly against the Principles of Sustainable
Concerning this issue, studies conducted by AAEPA
Development as well as CER.
have confirmed the dangerous extent of heavy metal
contamination of vegetables being grown with irriga-
tion of polluted Akaki River water. This indicates that Use of state of the art technology and effluents
the disposal of untreated wastes is polluting the rivers monitoring from the source
in the area and has great potential to affect the health Replacing old and energy consuming technology is
of the residents and the city at all, as the vegetables a large contribution to pollution reduction on the envir-
grown in the area have been distributed over the city onment. But this is not a culture in Ethiopia both in
(own survey, 2017, Eshetu 2012). private and in public institutions. The majority of indus-
Data from AAEPA further demonstrate that more tries asked about replacing obsolete technologies with
than 40% of Addis Ababa’s vegetable supply comes new one self-confessed that they are not applying this
from urban agriculture produced using the polluted technique. Only a few companies agreed that they con-
rivers in Addis Ababa. The literature on this issues tinually updated their old machines with new technolo-
revealed that some heavy metals like chrome, which gies. Environmental Protection Head of KK textile
have high potential to cause cancer, have been found factory told me in an interview that very old machines
in sample vegetables. According to a study by Van consume high energy usually from coal and oil. Those
Rooijen and Taddesse (2009), the concentration of obsolete machines release high industrial waste to the
metallic elements in the leaf of vegetables produced surrounding environment in the air or ground.
using the Akaki River water is significant and could Releasing huge amount of waste coupled with the absence
cause the outbreak of several diseases such as diar- of treatment plant causes environmental pollution. Thus,
rhea, and water-borne diseases, most common in the updating outdated machines could be one way to reduce
city and let people prone to cancer. Regarding the urban environmental degradation.
impacts of pollution from the industry, Aregawi As part of the responsible environmental management
(2014) further articulated that local residents and system, manufacturing industries are expected to moni-
vegetable farmers are among the highly vulnerable tor effluents from industrial activities. In the survey,
groups to industrial pollution-related health and eco- many companies claimed they control toxic effluents
nomic problems (Table 6). through the course of industrial operation. Majority of
According to Oromia region EPA, manufacturing the respondents responded that their industrial effluents
industries which fail to fulfill environmental regula- are monitored from the source. In spite of this, however,
tory standards in the times of inspection have been the concept of separating waste at source and pollution
receiving warning and punishments from the control and resource conservation initiatives undertaken
 ECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY 65

by manufacturing industries is not prevalent. For of waste during production and have no standardized
instance, Dire Leather Industry responded as they moni- Effluent Treatment Plant system. Treatment plants in
tor effluents from the operation. However, a study by operation are mainly primary level which is built for the
AAEPA shows that biochemical oxygen demand was purpose of avoiding penalties in the course of an inspec-
about 55,950 mg/L and the chemical oxygen demand tion by EPA organs. Otherwise, many industries release
measured 79,540 mg/L compared to 200 and 500 mg/L their effluents to nearby rivers.
national limit respectively. This also implies that corpo- Following majority of highly polluting industries
rate policy issues are not being translated well into pollu- located near or on the Akaki River Basin, and because
tion control and resource conservation measures. these industries are not managing their waste and pro-
Effluents are not managed and identified depending on tecting the environment, the entirety of the river system is
the magnitude of their toxicity (AAEPA, 2016, polluted. The entire river system is known for extremely
Interview). bad smell because of polluted air environment. As
Regarding this issue, the prevention of industrial I observed some parts of the study area, the bad smell is
pollution council of ministers regulation on Article 4/ irresistible for a while let alone living for entire life along
1 declares that: there. However, inside Addis Ababa, because the city is
not a planned one, a considerable number of people live
a factory subject to this regulation shall prevent or if
that is not possible, shall minimize the generation of following the Akaki River Basin system. These people are
every pollutant to an amount not exceeding the limit prone to several kinds of diseases. Moreover, the river
set by the relevant environmental standard and dis- water is utilized along the adjacent Oromia region and
pose of it in an environmentally friendly sound even beyond the Akaki River Basin system. The social
manner (FDRE, 2008) economic and health impact of the polluted Akaki river
In addition, the Ethiopian government has delivered water is huge across the area.
environmental standards for every pollutant emis- Unfortunately, in Addis Ababa, high-profile pol-
sions to be in line with these maximum permissible luting industries’ (Textile and Leather & Footwear)
limits. Given these environmental standards, compa- final product destinations are foreign markets. Hence,
nies are required to release industrial waste which two important factors could make the corporate
falls within the permissible limit. In practice, how- environmental governance challenging. First, because
ever, this regulation is not actually being implemen- these firms are major sources of foreign exchange for
ted. Studies by Eshetu (2012), Damtie and Kebede the nation thus easy pressure from the government,
(2012), and Aregawi (2014) revealed that environ- and second, these kinds of corporates would not
mental laws are not effectively combating pollution compete for reputation in the local community due
from the Industry. to foreign demand for their products.
For instance, Addis Ababa leather factory replied to As a requirement for operation, large- and medium-
this question during the survey as it conforms the govern- scale manufacturing industries in Ethiopia have environ-
ment regulatory requirements. But the laboratory analy- mental protection policies. These policies are overambi-
sis from wastewater released by this company to the tious and never fully implemented by the absolute
Akaki River shows that availability of oxygen in the majority of corporates and prepared for the usual report
water (DO) was only 0.7 mg/L which is far below the to the EPA organs. Corporate environmental protection
national permissible limit ≥7 mg/L (as measured by has not been a widely accepted concept so far. Many
AAEPA, 2016, Interview) implying the water is very companies treat it as an additional burden. A few local
badly polluted and cannot support life totally. Besides market-oriented beverage companies have a better
according to AAEPA (2016, Interview), the absolute understanding of environmental issues and are therefore
majority of large- and medium-scale manufacturing more likely to protect the environment and disclose
industries do not record the amount of energy and information at least for economic purpose.
resources they used and the amount of industrial waste
they release to the environment.
Recommendations
Taking into account the discussions made and con-
Summary
clusions drawn, the following suggestions are for-
Even though the establishment of industries in Addis warded both for the government and for the
Ababa dates back long years, industries which have stan- corporates:
dardized waste treatment and disposal system are very ● A mixed system – both command and control
few. The majority of large- and medium-scale industries regulations (currently working) plus corporate
such as Textile, Beverage, Leather, and Chemical indus- voluntary codes – rather than over-reliance on
tries have large pollution sources during production. only one should be employed to achieve environ-
However, the majority of them do not identify the type mental sustainability.
66 A. AMARE

● Altering the lip-service, fighting pollution from FDRE (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia). 1997.
the industry needs strong commitment because Environmental Policy of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: FDRE.
it could incur immediate financial cost both for FDRE (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia). 2002a.
Environmental Impact Assessment Proclamation No. 299/
the regulator (the government) and for the 2002. Addis Ababa: FDRE.
industry. But the regulator should act as real FDRE (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia). 2002b.
environmental safeguarding agent stepping for- Environmental Pollution Control Proclamation No.300/
ward from the double-standard position. 2002. Addis Ababa: FDRE.
○ A strong communication, teamwork, moni- FDRE (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia). 2008.
Prevention of Industrial Pollution Regulation 159/2008.
toring, and inspection among and between
Addis Ababa: FDRE.
hierarchical EPA organs. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Constitution.
○ Integration between Licensing and monitor- 1995. Article 44 (1) FDRE Constitution Article 92 (1).
ing institutions (such as Ethiopian Investment Feyisa, A. 2016. Environmental Impact Assessment in Ethiopia:
Commission (EIC), Ministry of Transport A General Review of History, Transformation, and Challenges
(MoT), MoI) and Environmental Protection Hindering Full Implementation. Ambo, Ethiopia: Ambo
University, Department of Natural Resources Management.
Departments in different government sectors Getu, M. 2013. Defiance of Environmental Governance:
as well as the EPA organs. Environmental Impact Assessment in Ethiopia.
○ A deeper transformation of vertical and hor- Grossman, H. A. 2005. “Refining the Role of the Corporation:
izontal institutional structure in the govern- The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on
ment EPA organs. Shareholder Primacy Theory.” Deakin Law Review 2.
Ibrahim, A. 2009. A Human Rights Approach to
● Manufacturing Industries with high pollution
Environmental Protection: The Case of Ethiopia.
profile should strive for the real adoption of Florida: St. Thomas University, School of Law Miami.
voluntary environmental management systems Janka, D. G. 2007. “Participation of Stakeholders in
and environmental codes of practice. This Environmental Impact Assessment Process in Ethiopia:
should also be encouraged by the government Law and Practice.” JimmaUniversity Law Journal 4 (1).
EPA organs. Khanna, A. M., and W. Anton. 2002. “What Is Driving
Corporate Environmentalism: Opportunity or Threat?”
● Institutionalizing good environmental manage-
Corporate Environmental Strategy 9 (4): 409–417.
ment culture within the Manufacturing Industries. Kumie, A. 2009. Air Pollution in Ethiopia: Indoor Air
The government using research and training Pollution in a Rural Butajira and Traffic Air Pollution
method should encourage industries to establish in Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa University press.
best environmental practices in the industry includ- Langeweg, F., H. Hilderink, and R. Maas (2000). Urbanisation,
Industrialisation and Sustainable Development. RIVM
ing to strive to protect the environment beyond
report 402001015. Retrieved from: http://www.pbl.nl/sites/
than mere compliance and pollution prevention. default/files/cms/publicaties/402001015.pdf
Li, X. 2006. “Environmental Concerns in China: Problems,
Policies, and Global Implications.” International Social
Disclosure statement Science Review 81 (1/2): 43–57.
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author. MEFCC. 2005. “Review of the Status of Akaki River Water
Pollution.” Unpublished report. Addis Ababa.
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