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Ethiopian Women in the Textile and Garment Industry—Inquiry into Their Working Conditions and Withdrawal Intentions

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Industrialization in Ethiopia: Awakening - Crisis - Outlooks

Abstract

Ethiopia is a country of 120 million people (Worldometer, 2022) whose economy predominantly depended on subsistence agriculture. However, over the past three decades’ considerable effort has been made to transform its traditional agriculture-based economy through expanding the manufacturing sector. In view of achieving a lower-middle-income status, the government has introduced an ambitious industrialization plan that is believed to catapult the country as the largest manufacturing hub in Africa (e.g., Cepheus Research & Analytics, 2019; Salingré, 2018; ABA ROLI, 2017: 3; Khurana, 2018).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Ethiopia’s population size as of February 10, 2022 at 17:28 (ET) was in the order of 119,784, 387. Worldometer (2022). Ethiopia Population (Live), https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ethiopia-population/#:~:text=The%20current%20population%20of%20Ethiopia,of%20the%20total%20world%20population.

  2. 2.

    “PVH’s closure has affected approximately 1450 of the Hawassa site’s 30,000 person workforce.” In: thr3efold, 02.01.2022: https://www.thr3efold.com/news/why-did-pvh-close-its-manufacturing-in-ethiopia.

  3. 3.

    Information from General Park Managers (see also the website of the Industrial Parks Development Corporations (IPDC): https://www.ipdc.gov.et/media/Hawassa_Investors_detail_.pdf and https://www.ipdc.gov.et/media/Bole_Lemi_Investors_detail.pdf).

  4. 4.

    The questionnaire survey and methodical approach was designed by project coordinator Dr Michaela Fink (Justus Liebig University Giessen), in cooperation with the research team.

  5. 5.

    The differences between minimum and maximum basic salary are not simply due to different job positions (like operator, operator/jumper, line leader, checker, storekeeper). Furthermore, it should be noted that only very few workers receive basic salaries higher than 3000 ETB (≥3000: 11 persons; ≥ 4000: 2 persons).

  6. 6.

    Most probably, this figure refers to a household’s total expenditure on food (based on joint income) when a married person shares a household with her/his partner.

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Semela, T., Getachew, S., Semela, D. (2023). Ethiopian Women in the Textile and Garment Industry—Inquiry into Their Working Conditions and Withdrawal Intentions. In: Gronemeyer, R., Fink, M. (eds) Industrialization in Ethiopia: Awakening - Crisis - Outlooks. Sozialwissenschaftliche Zugänge zu Afrika. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-41794-9_3

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