Flower Farms Environmental Performance Evaluation in Ethiopia

Abstract

Cultivation of cut flowers is a new agricultural sector in Ethiopia, which currently generates a high amount of income for the country's developments. Despite its significant contribution to economic developments; many issues were raised from communities and environmentalists concerning its environmental performance. Based on this issue the study assesses cradle to gate of cut flower production in the Wolmera district. The main objective of the study was environmental performance evaluation of flower farms in Wolmera district, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia related to operational activities throughout entire life cycles of cut flower production. In this study, primary and secondary data were collected using ISO 14031 standard structured with LCA tool methodology. Data were collected by inventory using an on-site data collection system from its sources. Based on data collected GHG (CO2, N2O, CH4 & NH3) emissions to the atmosphere were evaluated by using an inter-governmental panel on climatic changes (IPCC 2006) for inventory data and eutrophication & acidification estimated from data tested at laboratory levels. Similarly, the study also assesses banned chemicals used in the farms through inventory data assessment, and about 156 chemicals applied in the farms were collected to screen out those banned chemicals used and the two most extremely hazardous chemicals (Impulse & Meltatix) banned by WHO identified in the study. As it understood from a general assessment of all flower farms; all of them haven't EIA document established before construction in the district and production started with having less attention for EHPEA code of conducts in the flower farms which faces the environments for high impacts by emission emitted from flower farms in the district as a whole.