E3 Journal of Environmental Research and Management

E3 Journal of Environmental Research and Management Vol. 4 (4) pp. 0219-0233, May 2013; © E3 Journals; ISSN 2141-7466

Defiance of environmental governance: environmental impact assessment in Ethiopian floriculture industry

Abstract

Ethiopian floriculture sector is growing at least by 20 per cent each year making the nation the second largest African exporter of roses. Despite its economic importance (job creation, foreign earnings and other economic returns), the floriculture sector is responsible for many environmental effects including arbitrary expropriation, unregulated and high chemical consumption, depletion of water resource, unsafe waste disposal mechanisms and risk on workers safety. One of the environmental tools that could mitigate these impacts and optimally benefit from the sector was environmental impact assessment (EIA). However, despite existence of many laws (ranging from Constitutional provisions to specific EIA guidelines) and multiples of institutions (both government and private) functioning around the floriculture sector, EIA remains too weak and sidelined. International laws and practices have not stimulated the practice here in Ethiopia nor do the Constitutional provisions on environmental rights. Ethiopian laws and fourteen EIA reports of floriculture farms have been assessed and experts have been interviewed to get a clear picture of the EIA regime including timing, scoping, impact identification, identification of alternatives, environmental management plan, reviewing process, environmental monitoring/auditing and public participation. The author argues that the EIA regime is too weak to safeguard the environment owing to multiples of factors.

Keywords: environment, environmental impact assessment, EPA, mitigation measures, monitoring/auditing, public participation, scoping, screening.