It ain't fashion, if it ain't sustainable

Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya

Deep Focus / Africa Seconds / V

14 June 2024

4 minutes

The main finding of this study is that the growth of SHC imports in the five countries of Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, has had a positive impact on the labour market. The SHC industry is an employment creation engine in Africa, generating millions of jobs throughout the value and supply chain. Over 1.28 million people are employed in the SHC sectors in these countries with each tonne of SHC imported sustaining on average 6.5 jobs.

Widely Ignored: The Question of Livelihoods and that of Affordable Clothing

The last piece in this five-part series on the twin subjects of the second-hand clothing in Africa and that of post-consumer textile waste in the content emphasises that the two are, of course, related, but not in the way that Western activists would like us to believe.

Subir Ghosh

Commentary

Spotlight: Africa Seconds

Deep Focus / Africa Seconds / I

10 June 2024

5 minutes

Traders selling second-hand clothes at Gikomba Market in Nairobi. It is one of the biggest and busiest markets in the country.

Narratives about Second-Hand Clothing Being Driven by Those Who Are Misinformed

One of the many African countries that has been repeatedly mentioned in the swathe of Western media reports about the impact of the second-hand clothing trade is Kenya. But the sector is huge in the country in its spread, and mitumba touches the lives of millions. Yet, the opinion of the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya (MCAK) has largely gone unheard. The Chairperson of the MCAK, Teresia Wairimu Njenga, tells texfash that much of what abounds is misinformation.