Made in Ethiopia

is increasingly found on the labels of textiles from major (including German) brands.

And there are good reasons for this: The Ethiopian government is planning to turn the country into Africa's centre for the textile and clothing industry. Foreign companies can expect high profits, as wages in Ethiopia are at their lowest in this sector. Gabriele De Bona, Ecumenical Relations Officer for Ethiopia, and Tobias Schäfer-Sell, Advocacy International Officer, wanted to find out more about the situation in the textile industry in Ethiopia in an ELMinar and had therefore brought competent expertise on board in the form of Dr Asnake Tesfaye and Jiska Gojowczyk.

Dr Asnake Tesfaye works as a coordinator at DASSC, the diaconal arm of the Ethiopian Mekane-Yesus Church (EECMY). He has a doctorate in social work and social development from Addis Ababa University and was a lecturer at Wollega University. He knows the textile industry from the inside, as he worked in a textile and garment factory as a general manager and was a technical consultant specialising in compliance with social standards in factories with a focus on issues of gender equality and human rights.

Asnake describes the motivation behind the Ethiopian government's efforts to attract foreign investors. The area that can be used to produce cotton in Ethiopia is over three million hectares. Only 3% of this (2018 figure) is currently being utilised. Ethiopia also has experience in textile production: the first modern production plant for textiles started in 1939 in the town of Dire Dawa. Asnake describes various incentives offered by the Ethiopian government to make Ethiopia attractive to foreign investors, including Export incentives, low-interest loans, duty exemption for equipment brought in, low-cost leasing options and a lowered corporate income tax.

The problem is that the local realities in Ethiopia's textile factories do not meet international standards in several respects. Asnake identifies the key issues that need to be addressed: pay equity (wages must cover the cost of living), guaranteeing flexibility and protection, addressing health and wellbeing in the workplace (currently Asnake speaks of a silent pandemic in subjective wellbeing). Asnake also observes "signs of disintegration" in relation to diversity, equality and inclusion. For example, young women have no lobby and people with disabilities are paid less. He also calls for a "skills revolution" for workers and a learning culture to ensure that workers can maintain or improve their employability.

In addition to a lack of commitment and political loopholes, Asnake sees a key limiting factor in the enforcement of workers' rights in the fact that both major brands and buyers do not insist on sustainable improvements in the world of work. Neither brands nor buyers would penalise unsustainable practices through their purchasing behaviour. In Asnake's opinion, "the opportunities to influence as a buyer are very high, but they seem to be ignored or not perceived as a burning issue." However, Asnake sees the greatest challenge in finance: "There should be support for a responsible private sector that implements comprehensive strategies and innovative, inclusive business models for truly sustainable financing, production, trade and investment."

Dr Jiska Gojowcyk was the second speaker at the ELMinar. She is a research associate at SÜDWIND e.V., an institute for economics and ecumenism in Bonn, which campaigns for economic, social and ecological justice worldwide. She specialises in gender justice in occupational health and safety and was previously a doctoral student and post-doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne.

Gojowcyk is not an expert on Ethiopia, but she is an expert on working conditions in the textile and clothing industry worldwide. She points out that often only the sixth and seventh stages of the value chain in the textile sector (namely manufacturing and retailing) are focussed on, but that human rights violations occur at all nine stages (raw material production (1), ginning (2), spinning (3), weaving/knitting (4), finishing (5), use (8) and disposal (9)).

Companies such as H&M, ALDI and KiK dictated the prices, determined the conditions and the type of delivery. So while the buyers have a lot of power, the manufacturers have comparatively little power to make substantial changes to the conditions.

Gojowcyk notes that 80% of workers in the textile industry are women. It is striking that people are hired who (cannot) revolt: marginalised groups, certain ethnic groups, people with unclear residence status. She also complains about the high production pressure (piecework) and the low wages, which do not even cover the cost of living. In Ethiopia, incomes are currently the lowest.

After a lively discussion about the role of trade unions, Germany's (inglorious) stance on the adoption of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), whether COVID has further exacerbated the situation and whether a movement from below (purchasing decisions) or from above (political regulations) is more promising, there was a consensus at the end that it cannot be the decision of individual consumers who buy a cheap T-shirt whether human rights are respected or not.