True colours of Nepal : A minor field study on the Nepalease dyeing industry

Abstract: This research was a minor field study that took place during eight weeks in Kathmandu, Nepal, with a research focus on the country’s dyeing industry. Methods like qualitative interviews, observation, and analyses through the connections to the UN’s sustainable development goals was used to meet the research aim and objectives. The objectives of the research were to clarify what areas that are slowing down and what areas are creating opportunities for sustainable development within the industry. To identify these areas could be one part of knowing how and where change has to be made to achieve a more sustainable dyeing industry in Nepal. There are mainly three different ways to work with dyeing in Nepal; AZO dyeing, AZO free dyeing, and natural dyeing. Each technique comes with different issues and benefits connected to them, some on a more socio-economic level and some health-related. The established industry is more or less a lawless industry, with an absence of knowledge about the connected environmental and health effects. Due to a rough history of poverty and natural disasters, the industry is until today neglected and the issues connected has not been prioritised.  Today the industry is driven by the market and at the same time anchored by governmental corruption and outdated methods, which makes it hard for the industry to build its value and to develop sustainably. This sector is connected to the UN’s sustainable development goals 4,6,9 & 12 and their targets. However, today the industry awareness about the goals are low, and the lack of defined action in the government's plan for implementing the sustainable development goals states that they will not be a driving force towards a more sustainable dyeing industry. Awareness and customer demand is what is expected to move the industry towards a more sustainable future, according to the interviews. Nepal's dying industry does not have the bad reputation that other countries nearby have, which opens up for opportunities. But for the industry to be able to handle this opportunity, more accurate and a more in-depth research has to be made, to more clearly appreciate what the industry looks like today, since it is missing data. It would also mean that the government has to acknowledge the situation and clean up its act to make it easier for businesses to grow in a sustainable way.