Empowering Women Strengthens the Whole Family

Misrach Anjole, a mother of seven and grandmother to four, supports her entire family while also doing important work for the environment. She is one of several skilled women participating in Kirkens Nødhjelp’s (a Norwegian humanitarian organisation) recycling project Waste for Value in Hawassa, Ethiopia. The project demonstrates that empowering women economically and socially can strengthen entire families.

Text and photo: Kedija Sefa / Kirkens Nødhjelp Ethiopia

Misrach Anjole is a member of a small-scale enterprise that collects recyclable waste in Hawassa. The enterprise is organised as a cooperative under the Waste for Value project, run by Kirkens Nødhjelp in partnership with the Ethiopian organisation Tamra for Social Development.

Start-up Capital and Equipment

Misrach is a mother of seven and grandmother to four, supporting them all. Previously, she earned a living by washing clothes for others, but the workload and income were inconsistent, making it difficult to make ends meet.

Change came at the end of 2021. Misrach, along with 19 other women, joined the Waste for Value cooperative, which collects plastic and paper waste.

“In addition to training in the safe collection and handling of plastic and paper waste, we received workspaces, start-up capital, and personal protective equipment to carry out the work, including a small three-wheeled truck to transport the waste for sorting and sale,” says Misrach.

Since joining the project, she has observed growing awareness in the local community about proper disposal of plastic waste. Misrach also notes that the income from the work has improved living conditions for the women in the cooperative.

Her personal goal is now to complete the construction of her new home, which she recently started.

Creating More Jobs

“We hope that in the future we can expand the cooperative’s impact and create more employment opportunities for unemployed people,” says Misrach, who also serves as secretary of the cooperative organisation.

Since November 2021, three such cooperatives have been established in the towns of Hawassa, Shashemene, and Arsi Negele as part of the Waste for Value project.

The three women’s cooperatives together have 60 members, with 20 members in each cooperative.

Between May 2022 and January 2023, they collected over 96,000 kilograms of plastic and 54,000 kilograms of paper waste. This generated nearly 1.5 million Ethiopian birr in income, equivalent to around 290,000 Norwegian kroner.

“We are creating jobs, cleaning up the environment, and using resources in a better, more climate-friendly way. Several needs are met within a single project,” summarises Kirkens Nødhjelp’s Country Director in Ethiopia, Eivind Aalborg, in the article: Women at Work for Climate and Environment in Ethiopia.

Background

• Kavli Trust supports Waste for Value and the project’s expansion with a total of NOK 5.5 million for the period 2021–2024.
• Grants from Kavli Trust were awarded in 2021 (NOK 1.5 million) and 2022 (NOK 4.5 million).
• The Norwegian, internationally leading packaging manufacturer Bewi is also a supporter of Waste for Value.
• Read more about our collaboration with Kirkens Nødhjelp in Ethiopia.