City Secures Qoshe, Displaces the Shadow Workforce

The Addis Ababa City Administration has initiated a significant urban development intervention by securing and fencing the long-standing Qoshe (Koshe) landfill, transforming it from an open dump into a controlled municipal facility. This action, aimed at mitigating severe environmental and public health risks, including past fatal landslides, has concurrently displaced an estimated 140,000 to 150,000 individuals comprising the city's 'shadow workforce' who relied on scavenging for their livelihood. While the move addresses critical environmental concerns and aligns with broader urban modernization efforts, it has triggered immediate humanitarian crises for informal waste pickers, highlighting the complex legal and socio-economic challenges of formalizing informal sectors and managing urban land in Ethiopia.

Addis Ababa, the bustling capital of Ethiopia, is undergoing a transformative urban development initiative with the recent securing and physical fencing of the Qoshe (also known as Koshe or Reppi) landfill. This site, which has served as the city's primary open dumping ground for over 50 years, is now being converted into a controlled municipal utility. The city administration's intervention is a direct response to persistent environmental hazards and tragic incidents, most notably a devastating landslide in 2017 that claimed over 113 lives. This move is lauded as a step towards modernizing waste management and enhancing urban safety and environmental health.

The Qoshe landfill, meaning 'dirty' in Amharic, has been operational since 1964, initially beyond the municipal master plan but eventually becoming integrated into the urban landscape as Addis Ababa expanded. For decades, it functioned as an unregulated open dump, lacking basic infrastructure like fences, drainage systems, or odor control. This informal operation fostered a large 'shadow workforce' of waste pickers, locally known as 'qorales' or 'scratchers', who scavenged for recyclable materials and other items to earn a living. Estimates suggest that hundreds to thousands of individuals, including women and children, relied on Qoshe for their daily income, often living in makeshift settlements around the site. Their work, though informal, contributed significantly to the city's recycling efforts, a contribution largely unrecognized by formal systems.

The city's decision to secure Qoshe and displace the shadow workforce implicates several legal and policy frameworks in Ethiopia. The primary legal basis for urban land management is the Urban Lands Lease Holding Proclamation, such as Proclamation No. 721/2011, which stipulates that urban land can only be acquired through a leasehold system, typically via tender or allotment. This framework inherently conflicts with informal settlements and land use, like those around Qoshe, which often lack formal tenure. The displacement of informal workers also raises questions under the Ethiopian Constitution, particularly Article 43, which guarantees the right to improved living standards and sustainable development, and Article 40, which states that land is the property of the State and the peoples of Ethiopia. While the government has an obligation to ensure a clean and healthy environment (Article 92), the abrupt displacement without adequate transition plans for the informal workforce may be seen as undermining their constitutional right to livelihood.

The securing of Qoshe represents a critical juncture in Addis Ababa's urban development and environmental management strategy. While the transformation of a hazardous open dump into a controlled facility is a commendable step towards public health and environmental sustainability, it has created an immediate humanitarian challenge for the displaced informal workforce. Practitioners advising clients involved in urban development projects in Ethiopia must be acutely aware of the socio-economic impacts of such interventions and the legal obligations related to displacement and livelihood. Future projects must incorporate robust social impact assessments and comprehensive resettlement and reintegration strategies that align with both environmental protection laws and constitutional rights to livelihood and development. The stalled community-led cooperative for waste pickers at Qoshe underscores the need for effective, inclusive formalization pathways that genuinely integrate informal actors into the formal economy, rather than simply displacing them. Moving forward, the success of Addis Ababa's urban modernization will depend not only on infrastructural advancements but also on its ability to navigate these complex social justice issues with equitable and sustainable solutions.