A project funded by the European Union (EU) and four other organisations with the aim of making the whole value chain of the textile industry sustainable has been launched in Ethiopia. Solidaridad Network, Cotton Made in Africa, Danish Ethical Trading Initiative and CSR Netherlands will be participating in the implementation of the project. The EU will provide 1.5 million euros of the 1.9-million-euro total budget of the project. The main goal of the project is enabling all stakeholders that participate in the cotton and textile industries in the country to produce in a more environmentally friendly way. Ensuring that the garment exported is produced in such a way will help the country’s products be more acceptable by consumers in Europe, according to Kalayu Gebru, senior manager of cotton & textile projects for Solidaridad in Ethiopia. Bahir Dar University is performing a gap assessment in the cotton and textile industry to identify the areas where the project needs to focus.
