In March 2017, tragedy struck the outskirts of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, when a massive landslide at the Koshe landfill buried homes and claimed more than 115 lives, most of them women and children. The disaster, later called the “trashslide,” became more than a story of environmental negligence. It exposed the sharp contradiction between Ethiopia’s celebrated economic boom and the marginalized citizens whose lives remain entangled in the country’s waste.
A Mountain of Trash and Desperation
For more than five decades, Koshe—meaning “dirty” in Amharic—served as Addis Ababa’s main dumping ground. Around 300 waste pickers and their families made their homes beside the landfill, surviving on what the city discarded. They sorted through layers of refuse up to 40 meters deep, scavenging food scraps, bottles, plastics, and metals to sell for meager earnings. Over time, Koshe became both a community and a symbol of urban poverty hidden beneath Ethiopia’s narrative of prosperity.
The landfill held nearly 300,000 tons of waste from Addis Ababa’s four million residents. Every day, garbage trucks and bulldozers moved across the unstable terrain, often coming dangerously close to those searching for recyclables. Small accidents were frequent, but no one expected the mountain of waste to give way so catastrophically.
When the landfill collapsed on that Saturday night, homes made of mud and cardboard were instantly buried. Survivors described hearing a thunderous roar as the ground beneath them shifted and waves of garbage rolled downhill, swallowing everything in their path. Emergency workers and volunteers labored for days to recover bodies. The stench of decay mixed with grief and anger filled the air.
A Disaster Years in the Making
Local residents and human rights observers described the incident as the result of years of official neglect. The Koshe landfill had exceeded its capacity years before the collapse, but dumping continued due to bureaucratic delays and political conflicts.
City officials had previously attempted to decommission Koshe and move operations to a new site at Sendafa, about 25 kilometers away. However, the relocation faced fierce resistance from nearby farmers who protested against hosting Addis Ababa’s waste. When construction at Sendafa stalled, trucks returned to Koshe, resuming dumping on the already overburdened site.
Negeri Lencho, Ethiopia’s information minister at the time, stated that the landfill’s lack of structural reinforcement contributed to the collapse. “The garbage is not made out of concrete or natural rock,” he explained, suggesting the unstable ground simply gave way. But others pointed to a more specific trigger: the construction of a biogas energy plant adjacent to the landfill.
The Promise and Risk of Biogas Development
In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Addis Ababa University, the Ethiopian government began developing a waste-to-energy plant known as Reppie. The facility was designed to convert methane emissions from Koshe’s waste into electricity, generating up to 50 megawatts to power the capital.
While hailed internationally as an example of green innovation, construction work reportedly destabilized the surrounding trash mounds. Heavy equipment and excavation at the site disrupted the fragile layers of compacted waste. Locals complained that the project ignored safety warnings and displaced hundreds of residents without proper relocation or compensation.
After the collapse, officials promised to accelerate resettlement programs for those living near the landfill, but survivors expressed deep mistrust. For them, the promises sounded familiar—development projects in Ethiopia often come with a human cost that falls disproportionately on the poor.
Growth That Leaves Many Behind
The Koshe tragedy occurred at a time when Ethiopia was earning praise as one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies. For over a decade, the country’s GDP growth averaged around 10 percent annually, fueled by public infrastructure spending, construction, and manufacturing. Addis Ababa became a hub of cranes, new roads, and high-rise buildings.
Yet, beneath this progress, income inequality widened, and urban poverty persisted. The gleaming city center contrasted sharply with settlements like Koshe, where economic gains rarely reached. For those at the bottom of the social hierarchy, growth translated not into opportunity, but displacement and rising living costs.
Political Tensions and Public Distrust
The landfill disaster also tapped into Ethiopia’s deeper social tensions. In 2016, the country faced widespread anti-government protests, particularly among the Oromo community—the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, comprising nearly one-third of the population. Demonstrations erupted over the Addis Ababa Master Plan, a government proposal to expand the capital into surrounding Oromo farmlands. Protesters argued that the expansion would lead to mass evictions without compensation, echoing decades of marginalization.
The government declared a six-month state of emergency to quell dissent, arresting thousands and restricting public gatherings. The landfill collapse, coming just months later, reinforced perceptions that authorities valued development and international image over citizens’ welfare.
For many Ethiopians, Koshe became a metaphor for that imbalance—a country celebrated abroad for progress while its poorest citizens suffocate under its waste.
A Symptom of Urbanization Challenges
The tragedy also highlighted the growing crisis of waste management in rapidly urbanizing African cities. Addis Ababa produces more than 1,200 tons of garbage daily, a figure expected to rise sharply with population growth. Limited recycling infrastructure and weak environmental regulation compound the problem.
While the Reppie waste-to-energy plant aims to provide a long-term solution, experts warn that technology alone cannot fix systemic inequities. Unless urban planning includes marginalized communities in decision-making and guarantees safe livelihoods, such projects risk deepening resentment.
Environmental groups have called for transparent investigations into Koshe’s collapse and for new safety protocols at landfills nationwide. Some local NGOs are advocating for community-led recycling programs and training for waste pickers to transition into formal jobs within the sanitation sector.
Human Lives Behind the Numbers
Behind every statistic are human stories of struggle and resilience. Survivors of Koshe describe the landfill not just as their workplace but as their home. Many lost family members, friends, and the only source of income they had. One survivor told Reuters that she lost her daughter and mother in the slide. “We have nowhere else to go,” she said, sitting beside a mound of debris that used to be her house.
Children who once scavenged plastic bottles now carry memories of that night—the deafening noise, the suffocating dust, and the silence that followed. Weeks after the disaster, relatives continued searching through the waste, hoping to find bodies to bury.
Lessons for the Future
The Koshe disaster forced Ethiopia to confront the darker side of its development story. Economic growth alone cannot guarantee dignity or safety if social inclusion and environmental planning are neglected. The event prompted renewed calls for better waste management, safer housing policies, and more transparent governance.
International aid agencies and civil society groups urged the government to treat urban waste as a human rights issue rather than a mere logistical challenge. As Ethiopia continues to industrialize, the question remains whether growth will build a more equitable nation or leave the marginalized literally buried beneath progress.
The Koshe tragedy is a warning not just for Ethiopia but for all rapidly developing nations: without accountability, sustainability becomes another word for neglect.
Sources
- Associated Press, “Ethiopia landfill collapse kills more than 100” (March 2017)
- Reuters, “Rescuers recover bodies after Ethiopia rubbish landslide” (March 2017)
- BBC News, “Ethiopia rubbish dump landslide death toll rises to 113” (March 2017)
- UNDP Ethiopia, “Reppie Waste-to-Energy Project Overview” (2017)
- Human Rights Watch, “Such a Brutal Crackdown: Killings and Arrests in Response to Ethiopia’s Oromo Protests” (2016)
- World Bank Data, “Ethiopia GDP Growth Annual (%)” (2017)
