Project

Towards Brown Gold: Mekelle, Tigray region in northern Ethiopia

Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, suffers from water scarcity, and water bodies are often contaminated by overflowing wastewater.

The war which started in 2021 and the ongoing famine pose severe risks to lives and livelihoods with several million displaced. Mekelle has been hosting approximately 175,000 internally displaced people, increasing pressure on the city’s already fragile infrastructure.

The Towards Brown Gold project is evaluating technologies, business models, and regulatory and institutional arrangements to deliver sustainable faecal sludge management in Mekelle.

Despite the war and communications blackout imposed by the Ethiopian government for over a year, we have been generating evidence related to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and human waste management with a focus on safely reusing waste. Our evidence aims to strengthen long-term sustainable waste management and the post-war restoration of WASH services in Mekelle.

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Project details

start date
1 April 2020
end date
1 September 2023
value
£

Partners

About this project

Region
Ethiopia

People

Recent work

Brief

Promoting Sustainable Waste Management in Mekelle, Ethiopia

IDS Policy Briefing 216

Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region in Ethiopia, is plagued by water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) challenges. Rapid population growth, unplanned urbanisation, limitations in WASH services, climate change, and the impacts of war and conflicts are affecting the sanitation conditions of the...

12 September 2024

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