Cleaner industrial production practice in Ethiopia: problems and prospects

In this article, cleaner industrial production (CIP) from the Ethiopian perception, the conditions for implementation, the barriers encountered during implementation and the strategies used are discussed. In addition, the outcome of the project is highlighted.The barriers related to the implementation of Industrial CIP in Ethiopia are mainly due to:

• the lack of awareness on the part of the industrial sector;

• the lack of commitments from the high level management;

• the nature of the existing factories.

Cleaner production as a concept is not yet fully understood in Ethiopia and for this a vigorous awareness campaign has to continuously be conducted through all possible media. So far, awareness seminars, workshops and demonstration projects have been held and proved to be effective in facilitating the implementation of National Cleaner Industrial Production Project of Ethiopia (NACIPPE 1 and 2). It was, however, sad to note that at the time of the campaign, government promulgated a decree to the effect that state-owned factories were going to be privatized any time, which, to a considerable extent lowered the management's commitment towards the CIP projects.The first and second phases of NACIPPE 1 and 2 were implemented in 1997 and 1998 respectively. Forty industries from public and private sectors participated in the training and waste audit exercises and a total of 61 audit experts and 156 audit assistants were trained. The package was divided into three technical training components and three waste audit practices. The technical support was extended by hiring a private enterprise, Chem. Tech. Center Sh. Co.