The Or Foundation, Accra Metropolitan Assembly call for systemic change, not a total ban on second-hand clothing imports in Ghana
The Or Foundation, in partnership with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), emphasise the need for a balanced, systemic approach to address the root cause of the global textile waste crisis – overproduction – instead of a complete ban on second-hand clothing imports.
The Or Foundation and the AMA have joined forces to advocate for a Justice-Led Circular Economy by prioritising the well-being of communities like Kantamanto Market that have borne the burden of fashion’s wasteful practices over the years. The Metropolitan Assembly and the Accra-based not-for-profit organisation are together seeking to improve operating conditions within the market and further remanufacturing, recycling and jobs training initiatives throughout Ghana’s second-hand clothing sector, rather than calling for a blanket ban on second-hand clothing imports which could have unintended consequences in Ghana.
The Kantamanto Market, one of the largest second-hand clothing markets in the world, plays a pivotal role in the circular economy, where discarded clothing is creatively reused, repaired, and upcycled, hence a ban would undermine this model of circularity and risk further flooding local markets with new, low-quality garments from fast fashion brands, undoing Ghana’s unique reuse economy and its potential to be a global leader in the circular economy and sustainable fashion.
In terms of the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when compared to the climate impact of producing the same volume of new clothing, the number of second-hand garments Kantamanto Market is responsible for recirculating every year is estimated to be the equivalent of removing over 500,000 cars from the road, making Kantamanto a climate positive solution.
In this regard, the tens of thousands of Ghanaians working throughout the second-hand clothing trade are leaders in sustainable fashion. Collectively they have invented the tools and patterns of reuse that are the true solution to the global textile waste crisis. To future proof Ghana’s legacy of sustainable fashion, we need global policies that bring value back to fashion by supporting the emerging entrepreneurs of the circular textile economy like those based in Kantamanto here in Accra, who work every day to extend the life of clothing, thereby reducing overall production volumes and waste.
Despite the immense effort of the more than 30,000 people who are estimated to work in Accra’s Kantamanto Second-hand Clothing Market, recirculating globally sourced secondhand clothing throughout the West African region, waste persists due to the overall devaluation of clothing that has led to the excessive quantities and the depleting quality of garments.
These economic behaviours of the global fashion industry have driven many Kantamanto Market Second-hand Retailers into debt according to research conducted by The Or Foundation. Conditions within the market necessitate improvements for the reuse sector for its long term sustainability, but not its elimination through a blanket ban on imports.
The two organisations are working collectively to mobilise resources to improve the secondhand market, and both strongly oppose a total ban on second-hand imports, since such a ban will do more harm than good. An outright ban would threaten the livelihoods of thousands of Ghanaians, who depend on the second-hand trade while failing to address the root problem – overproduction.
Globally the fashion industry needs to reduce the volume of new clothing being made, not penalize the communities that are working to extend the life of garments through reuse.
The Or Foundation and AMA are calling on fashion brands to be transparent about their production volumes and to take responsibility for the full lifecycle of their products under an
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework. Both organisations are working to support locally developed remanufacturing and recycling practices to bring new economic opportunities to Accra’s reuse sector, which could be further catalysed through Globally Accountable EPR moving resources to receiving markets like Kantamanto in Accra.
The Or Foundation and the AMA jointly run one of the largest beach clean-up teams in Ghana, which is on a weekly basis responsible for removing an average of over 20 tons of textile and other plastic waste from Accra’s beaches where clothing that has been swept into gutters and the nearby Korle Lagoon is known to wash up after being carried out to sea. Through this work, The Or Foundation has uncovered thousands of discarded clothing tags from brands like Nike, Marks & Spencer, and H&M in Accra’s beaches, rivers, and informal dumpsites, directly linking major international clothing brands with environmental pollutants and indicating the source of textile pollution to be fast fashion’s overproduction.
About The Or Foundation
The Or Foundation is a not-for-profit organization based in Accra, Ghana, committed to addressing the global fashion waste crisis and supporting the communities most affected by it. The Or Foundation operates as an ecosystem builder organization within Accra’s Kantamanto Second-hand Clothing Market, providing millions of dollars of support into the market on an annual basis in the form of crisis relief for Second-hand retailers and women working as kayayei, fire extinguishers, job training, material research and development, market upfit initiatives, and business incubation programming.