"Yager Idir" is the big social association which all the members from the Gurage group.. Like any other iddir in the city, "Yager Iddir" also provides support on the death of the member or the relative of the member.

The Gurage people are known for their rotating credit association called equb. The income of qorales is at a subsistence level or less, so that saving is difficult to them. A qorale who is capable of earning better income can involve in a weekly or monthly Equb. But, still Equb is difficult for every qorale because of low and inconsistency of the income.

The society in general does not understand what really the qorales are doing. Some of the informants said that, the attitude of the public towards them is discouraging. For instance, a client calls the qorale to sell his/her used articles, when the qorale approaches closer to the client, he/she insists him to stay away. This is because some of the people suspect that they may rob them after they identify the ways in to and out of their house. Therefore, this attitude of the public is becoming discouraging for them.

According to them, they are suffering from the corruptive behaviour of some policemen. The majority of the qorales are complaining about this problem. After a long process of collection, when every qorales return to the dumping place of their collected articles, Merkato-Korkoro Terra. At the arrival of the qorales, the policemen who are responsible on that area catch some of them and examine all their collected articles and may say one of the articles is stolen one.

Even if the articles are not stolen ones, if the policemen says that they are stolen, they prefer to give them some money and get their articles back. Because the money that they get by selling the suspected article might be more than they give to the policemen. Some times the policemen may send the qorales to prison until they investigate whether an article is a stolen one or not. In this case, the qorales prefer to give them some money instead of going to prison and wasting their time until the truth come out.

There are times when some of the qorales are caught and accused of buying stolen article and the owners get it back. In this case the qorales loose their money and waste their time in prison. This shows that the place is also a dumping place of stolen articles. The stolen used articles might be bought by the qorales knowingly or unknowingly.

Qorales have some difficulties with their job. Even though they believe that the work has provided them a means of living, they are absolutely unhappy with it.

In Ethiopia, operators of in the popular/people's economy are categorised as Informal Sector Operators, or in short ISOs. This is the term that will be used

ISOs are defined (CSA, 1997) as a household type of establishment which

1. is mainly engaged in marketed production;
2. is not registered as companies or cooperatives;
3. has no full written book of accounts;
4. has less than ten persons engaged in the activity, and
5. has no license.

It is recognised in Ethiopia - at least on paper - that ISOs are the most important source of self-employment and providers of consumption goods and services for the population. Both the Government, the private sector and formal commercial banks consider cooperating and serving the ISOs.

The Government, through the Ministry of Trade and Industries, is working on a Micro and Small Enterprises Development Strategy, which also caters for the ISOs - considered to be "the standing block of micro and small enterprises" (Gemelew, 1998) aiming at creating a conducive environment for enhancing the growth and expansion of the sector.

These policies and interventions are not yet in place, but Gemelew (1998) summarised tendencies at the National Workshop on Promotion of the Informal Sector for Development in Africa which was organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for African in February 1998.

The strategy will focus mainly on legal framework, with laws to be issued on institutional arrangement for micro and small enterprises, inter-linkage promotion, and relationships with the Chamber of Industry and Trade, on facilitating access to finance, encouraging partnerships training, access to appropriate technology, market, and information and advice, and, last but not least, provision of physical infrastructure.

Under the latter, which is the present main concern of the entire waste recycling sector, the Government intends to:

• consider the establishment of incubators (or business start-up premises) if these are not established by the private sector;
• encourage development associations and private investors to establish incubators, develop industrial estates, construct commercial premises and provide service to micro and small enterprises on a rental basis;
• look into ways and means, other than through the tender system, of facilitating the accessibility of micro and small enterprises to land at affordable rates.

Theoretically, there is a fertile ground for operators of the informal sector to work with the formal private sector. Private sector organisations in Ethiopia view the informal sector as potential partners and have stated their willingness and intention to assist them. In Oromia, the practice of renting machines by the private sector to metal and wood workers in order to enable them to cut and machine their parts and assemble them in their own workshops is already practised, setting an example of partnership which could also exist between the private sector and the recycling sector in Addis Ababa.

The Addis Ababa Private Industries Association (AAPIA) is a non-profit making organisation established in 1993 to promote the development of the private sector in Addis Ababa. One of its stated goals is to "serve as a bridge between the micro/informal sector operators on the one hand, and the small, medium and large-scale industries on the other to create business linkages between them".

AAPIA's 1200 members are all registered and licensed enterprises. Due to their obsolete machinery, shortage of capital and skilled manpower, most of these enterprises are not much better than those classified as micro-enterprises or informal sector operators (ISOs). As they are formal, they loose some of the advantages they would benefit from if they were classified as ISOs. Because of this, AAPIA seeks to foster collaboration between ISOs and the small, medium and large enterprises through various mechanisms (Amare, 1998). A first such mechanism is helping the informal sector operators to participate in exhibitions organised by AAPIA. The Association is now considering the possibilities of sub-contracting arrangements, and have items required by enterprises manufactured by the small-scale sector, including the informal sector operators The scheme would envisaged by AAPIA would include:

• the establishment of a database system, including a "search and match" service,
• facilitation of linkage negotiations,
• forming of a joint committee from the informal sector operators and the small, medium and large enterprises to manage sub-contracting exchanges.

The Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce (ECC) "views the informal sector positively and acknowledges its importance as a provider of employment and incomes to millions of people who would otherwise lack the means of survival and as a breeding ground of entrepreneurship", and has stated its willingness to provide assistance to the informal sector as a whole (Abera, 1998). This assistance would include:

• Carrying out market surveys for the products of the informal sector so as to provide potential entrepreneurs with information about outlets and establish the size and location of the market, distribution centres and marketing channels;
• Through catalogues, trade fairs and exhibitions, disseminating information on products produced by the informal sector and offset misconception about the sector by legitimising the sector and publicising its capabilities and potential, promote networking among small producers and serve as a lobby for micro-enterprise support;
• Establishing a databank and disseminating relevant information on the use of improved technology;
• Designing a training program to improve the productive potential of the informal sector;
• Carrying out advocacy work to generate sufficient pressure to bring about the necessary changes in policies, attitudes and procedures that hamper the development of the informal sector.

There is an important stumbling block to the implementation of this program, as the ECC will not implement this program until

1. It is provided with resources to do so
2. Its organisational capacities are strengthened.
3. A conducive environment, with supportive economic, social and political measures, is put in place.

Support therefore seems a long way ahead

Both governmental and private commercial banks find it difficult to work directly with ISOs but would agree to work through an intermediary institution (Lakew Alemu, 1998)

Until recently there were no banking facilities for small enterprises and ISOs. Financial services are obtained from local institutions such as equb, iddir¹, money lenders and friends. In 1992, the National Bank of Ethiopia established the Saving and Credit Cooperation Office (SACCDO) which registers associations engaged in saving and credit operations and also audits their financial performance. This is now a well-established structure, used by different groups, especially women associations, to set up their savings and credit schemes and gain a legal recognition of their association. It does need initial seed capital and organisational support to be set up, which is part of the reasons why it has not attracted the recyclers.

In 1996, the Ethiopian Government issued a proclamation on Licensing and Supervision of Micro-Finance Institutions. Based on this, the National Bank of Ethiopia issued directives on the licensing and supervision of the business of micro-financing institutions (MFIs). A declared aim of this initiative is to alleviate poverty by encouraging income-generating activities and employment generation schemes. Another reason was the need felt by the Government to regulate the business of micro-finance which was practised by several NGOs in the country without clear guidelines and procedures

After the proclamation and directives were issued, only registered micro-finance institutions are allowed to provide credit and other financial services to disadvantaged groups of the society.

There are now three such licensed micro-finance institutions operating in Addis Ababa: the Specialised Financial and Promotional Institute (SFPI), Gasha, and African Village Financial Services (AVFS). All of them started operation in 1998 and have their own way of selecting their clients and accepting alternative collaterals. Lending interest rate is 12%. When the directive was issued, the lending interest rate was fixed to a maximum of 2% above the interest rate charged by formal banks, but this was later (August 1998) liberalised and MFIs are free to fix their own interest rates. As per regulation, loans to a single borrower may not exceed 5 000 Birr and must be reimbursed within a period of no more than 12 months.

SFPI was the first to be set up and start operation (early 1998), and will normally cover any requester, but as it is still in its initial stage, it cannot cover the whole of Addis Ababa at once. It proceeds zone by zone. Potential clients who are not within the zone cannot, for the time being, access the services offered by SFPI.

Gasha works in a specific neighbourhood in Merkato. All its shareholders are members of the community within that neighbourhood. Nothing prevents them in future from opening the institution to people from other neighbourhoods, but in these early days of its existence, it caters only for the people in the neighbourhood.

AVFS provides its services to clients recommended by an iddir which serves as collateral. It is therefore accessible to any recycler as long as his/her request is supported by iddir members. has only just started operation. The informal sector is

Essentially the efforts of the formal sector, whether Government, private sector or, is to integrate the informal sector into the free market economy. This has led the ISOs to formalise their associations, be trained in

This has not yet brought the expected results, to the great disillusion of the ISOs. Access to capital and credit funds is still not available, even to associations that are now legally and formally registered and therefore pays taxes to the Government

The section on policy and legislation come from secondary data. Especially the paper on policies was written for the workshop on solid waste management in Addis Ababa, which was organised in October 1998 to provide base-line information on the status of waste and waste management in Addis Ababa to local authorities and representatives of the private sector.

The issue of environmental sanitation and solid waste management is addressed in several policy and strategy documents.

1. The 1994 Constitution of Ethiopia incorporates a number of provisions relevant for the protection, sustainable use and improvement of the environment. Under Article 44, it provides that all persons have the right to a clean and healthy environment and Government and citizens shall have the duty to protect the environment. The incorporation of those important provisions recognises and uplifts environmental rights to the level of fundamental human rights.

 

2. The issue of solid waste management is also addressed in the Environment Policy of Ethiopia and in the Conservation Strategy of Ethiopia. Basic policy elements on sustainable city development, polluters' pay, preventive approach, recycling, and sound waste disposal and treatment are included in those documents.

 

3. In line with Proclamation 4/1995, various Federal Sectoral Institutions such as the Ministries of Trade and Industry, Public Works and Urban Development, and Health, have been provided, in their fields of activity, with the right to initiate and implement policies and laws that will have a significant impact in promoting a sound solid waste management programme.

 

4. At the regional level, the Government has, according to the Addis Ababa City Government Charter, Proclamation 41/1997, Article 3, a duty to formulate and execute economic and social development programmes, administer land and other natural resources within the territory and conserve and develop the natural environment. In particular, the duty to conserve and develop the natural environment implies that the Government is generally responsible to ensure the provision of solid waste collection and disposal services.

 

5. In line with the Proclamation that defines allocation of powers and duties of the Central and Regional Executive Organs of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia:

• The Public Works and Urban Development Bureau has a duty, among others, to look into the provision of adequate housing to the city dwellers.
• The Health Bureau has also a mandate to prepare, on the basis of the health policy of the country, the health care plan and programme for the people of the Region, and to implement same when approved.
• The Natural Resource Development and Environment Protection Bureau has a duty and power to:
• cause the implementation, within the Region, of the country's natural resources development and environment policies, and
• supervise the implementation, within the Region, of directives issued regarding the control of damages caused by depletion of natural resources, and the prevention of water, soil and air pollution.
• In conformity with the decentralisation approach, as enshrined under the 1994 constitution, the conservation strategy of Addis Ababa (draft) is prepared by the Addis Ababa Administration Environmental Protection Bureau. This document is meant to implement the relevant federal environmental and natural resource development policies

1. Volume II of the Conservation Strategy of Addis Ababa Government has addressed critical issues in relation to solid waste management, notably in its sections that deal with Environmental Health, Master Plan Development, Waste Management and Pollution Control.

1. The then Region 14 Administration issued regulations on sanitation and environmental health. These regulations repeated a number of public health regulations that had been enacted in the country starting from 1943.

 

2. According to Sanitation and Environmental Health Regulation No. 1/1994 of Region 14 Administration , all persons, be it natural or judicial, have a duty to store their garbage within their premises and by their own containers until it is collected. Added to this, no one is allowed to throw or deposit any solid waste at a crossing or public place or any other place that are prohibited.

 

3. The Addis Ababa Administration Health Bureau has a mandate to appoint and assign inspectors. The main functions of a designated inspector is to follow up and inspect the compliance of the particulars mentioned under the regulations. After inspection, if the inspector is convinced that the provisions of these regulations are violated, he shall order the fender to remove and dispose the waste ha has thrown or deposited.

 

4. The same Bureau has a mandate to follow up the disposal of waste and collect service fee, the amount of which is to be determined by the Addis Ababa Administration at some time to come yet.

 

5. Enforcement mechanisms sought by the Addis Ababa Administration Sanitation and Public Health Control regulations include an administrative decision and penalty. The financial penalty ranges from Birr 15 to 200 and in serious cases the administrative decision may results in the closure of the premises. Moreover, the Public Prosecutor Office of Region 14 could also initiate a public interest suit, and the penalties will be as provided under the Penal Code of Ethiopia.

 

6. In connection with public health protection, the 1948 penal Code of Ethiopia has a number of prescriptions and penalty provisions. The impairment of public safety in particular, by depositing or throwing at a crossing or a public place accessible to the public, materials, garbage, refuse or objects or things of any nature whatsoever capable of causing an appreciable risk or nuisance without observing the relevant rules or taking the necessary precautions is punishable either by fine or arrest. In connection with waste management and disposal by manufacturers, the Penal Code of Ethiopia provides that whoever contravenes the rules regulating the manufacture or preparation, possession, handling and transport of inflammable, toxic, corrosive or dangerous or hazardous substances is punishable by fine or arrest.

 

7. Individuals also have a standing in implementing the Sanitation and Environmental Health regulation No. 1/1994 of Region 145 Administration. Under Title xiii of the 1960 Civil Code of Ethiopia, if one is able to demonstrate the breach of the relevant laws issued on solid waste and establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the damage and the wrongful conduct, one could bring a claim in order to rectify the damage that is inflicted.

The issue of solid waste management is addressed in several documents. However, the mere presence of constitutional provisions, policy and strategies both at the Federal and Regional levels, whose implementation has not been able to improve matters, and the crisis still persists.

The reason why the reason is still continuing, in particular after 1994, is that all the policy and strategies, including the Constitution, are of a framework nature and that they cannot implement themselves. The implementation further requires the accomplishment of workers.

They need to be defined concretely by subsidiary legal instruments so that they would be easily evaluated, understood and observed. In this regard, the first step is to look into the adequacy of existing laws in defining and implementing them.

Over the last five decades, Ethiopia has enacted a wide range of legislations aimed at controlling pollution, including soil and water pollution as well as waste handling and disposal. However, these legislations have had an insignificant contribution in controlling pollution in general and solid waste management in particular. The inadequacy or ineffectiveness of Ethiopia's legislation in relation to solid waste management can be attributed to several factors. While weak enforcement is most often cited as the major reason why such laws are ineffective, the poor enforcement itself is a result of a combination of other conditions:

1. The laws enacted in Ethiopia on solid waste impose a general duty of care to prevent harm on human beings and certain components of the environment. The advantages of such kinds of provisions are that they provide basic standards against which conduct can be measured.

 

On the other hand, the imposition of a general duty care "such as no one shall 'pollute', 'throw', 'deposit' as provided under the Penal Code and Addis Ababa Administration Regulation 1/1994, as well as the imposition of a requirement to submit a statement regarding health and sanitary conditions, environmental protection" as provided under the Council of State SpecialDecree No. 9/1989 is on the assumption that the subjects will obey the law and follow the prescriptions.

 

Although such general obligations are useful as broad statements of policy and in some cases intended to cover those responsibilities not specifically regulated, they are not enforceable due to their breath. Thus the implementation of a general duty of care requires the issuance of subsidiary regulations, standards, guidelines and other similar management tools.

 

2. The general trend and consequent approaches towards the development of pollution control laws in Ethiopia since 1943 exhibit a rule-oriented approach. For instance, the 1948 Penal Code of Ethiopia prohibits activities that will have adverse impact upon certain components of the environment and public health.

 

On the other hand, conducive situations to dispose of waste generated in the course of consumption and production have not been fulfilled and, from a practical point of view, this has not helped halt or even slowed down the problem. Because the mere imposition of criminal penalties is the oldest legal technique of making polluters pay, and that is why the approach is proved to be ineffective.

 

3. The other feature of environment related laws in Ethiopia witnesses that they were primarily concerned to regulate allocation and exploitation of resources either for production or consumption. They did not emphasise their sound management and rational uses. For instance, if a duty to recycle were imposed upon pulp factories, one could imagine the extent of its contribution in minimising the depletion of forestry resources. In addition, the laws did not require the rehabilitation of environmental damages nor the undertaking of positive measures to enhance environmental quality.

 

4. The existing law on solid waste management does not have a deterrent effect. As a general rule, the sanctions or provisions on criminal and administrative fines may not be effective when their magnitude or level is modest compared to the gains that accrue from non-compliance. To be effective, those levels must be regularly revised to conform with the actual environmental cost incurred by the existing and upcoming generations.

 

In Ethiopia, at various times various laws on waste management have been enacted. However, the criminal and administrative fines have not been revised. And this failure not only reduces the deterrent value of the penalties but also imposes an unacceptable environmental cost on the society.

 

5. Within the context of the existing legal regime, various categories of wastes are construed to constitute one and the same thing: nuisance. Discharge of toxic matter or other wastes from premises to drainage channels, public streets or water courses as well as accumulation of refuse and dangerous or hazardous materials that are offensive, or dangerous to health are treated in the same way. The laws make no clear provision for licensing procedure for the generation of wastes and the operation of disposal site, waste treatment and recycling.

 

6. Furthermore, the Addis Ababa Administration Health Bureau which is responsible for solid waste management is under-staffed and ill-equipped to keep up with increasing workload. Wherever such a problem comes into the picture, the possible solution would be looking for other alternatives.

 

7. The other major drawback in providing waste collection and related services is the inaccessibility of some areas. This problem mainly results from policy failures in addressing the issues of urban land and housing. In this confusion, the most affected parts of the urban dwellers, particularly in relation to solid waste management, are the low-income groups.

 

Consequently, in Addis Ababa, it has become very common to find dwelling houses without toilets, bathing and water supply. In order to minimise this problem, the City Administration needs to design a workable strategy that should primarily focus on improving the living standard of the low income groups and implement a sustainable city development programme.

 

8. The other factor for the absence of a sound solid waste management system in the city may be attributed to a lack of public pressure even when the Government fails to take the basic first move. If there were pressure from the public or interest groups on the Government to do something in order to protect land contamination, to stop pollution or to improve the waste disposal system, the Government would act either by applying and using existing laws and institutions or creating new laws and institutions.

As far as the Constitution, the Federal Environmental Policy and strategies both at the Addis Ababa Administration and Federal levels are concerned, there is a conducive environment to introduce a sound solid waste management programme. Environmental concerns are legally recognised as one of the fundamental human rights. Added to the supreme law of the land, the Environmental Policy and Conservation Strategy of Ethiopia and the Addis Ababa Administration have laid a firm and solid foundation for the protection and sustainable use s of the environment.

In this regard, the role and content of laws in connection to waste management should be designed not only to establish prescriptions or prohibitions, but also implement other positive intervention mechanisms such as incentives and the creation of management tools.

The on-going waste disposal practice is not good enough. In this connection, the health impacts will become more acute and severe for the urban poor and low-income groups. In order to curb

Informal Recycling in Merkato