This publication was elaborated in the context of the pilot project “Guideline for organic waste treatment in East Africa” as part of a call for solutions by the PREVENT Waste Alliance. The aim of the project is to develop a legal, technical and economic guideline for dealing with organic waste as a basic strategy for politics, administration, research and the private sector for East African countries using the example of Ethiopia. The purpose of this publication is to provide a general overview of the current state of organic waste management in East African countries, specifically using Ethiopia as an example, and thus represents the first part of the guideline. In a further step, technical solution will be developed on the basis of the knowledge compiled here and presented in a subsequent report.