All Research on Second-Hand Clothing Needs to Be Transformed into Action, Policy Coherence Needed

It is not just an irony, but an outright travesty that this needs to be emphasised: the second-hand clothing sector does indeed generate jobs in a region where millions live below the International Poverty Line of $2.15 a day. A study that looked at SHC in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia explored a facet that anti-waste activists unfortunately choose to ignore.

Richa Bansal

13 June 2024

5 minutes

Long Story, Cut Short

The jobs that the SHC sector creates in turn are likely to support over 2.5 million people, taking account of dependents in households.
Governments and policy makers need to examine their approach to used clothing afresh given the demonstrably positive economic, social and environmental impact of the sector: job creation.
It is important to recognise that the used clothing industry is a clear demonstration of a robust circular economy at work.

Second Life Second-hand clothes displayed at the São Paulo Market, the largest wholesale market in Angola’s capital, Luanda. Indetexx Clothing

The politics of random—and often cherry-picked—data on the second-hand clothing (SHC) trade could further stymie the economies of at least five African nations, and push millions into unemployment if and when the ban on textile waste from the EU comes into play.

But before we get into all of that, a couple of points on why this long-established sector that supports millions of green livelihoods and billions in pounds in tax income to African governments, is also helping to drive the transition to the type of circular economy the world needs if it is to fight climate change:

Second-hand textile is a necessary commodity vital to Angola—the seventh largest country of Africa lying along its western coast—, and without it many people may not have access to clothing.
SHC contributes over $73.5 million in government tax receipts through imports, taxation of consumption and employment in just five of the African nations—perhaps among the poorest in the world.

The points above were made at a webinar that discussed the release of the report, Job Creation in Africa’s Second-hand Clothing Sector: Evidence from Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, authored by Dr Joseph Feyertag, an independent development economist and edited by Professor Patrick Diamond from the Queen Mary University of London.

Speaking at the webinar, Hilda Kavenuke from DAPP Zambia, Humana People to People, underlined: “Second-hand clothes have changed the life of my family.” Kavenuke raised five children from the earnings that the SHC sector gave her. She informed how her work across four countries means employment for “more than a thousand people in retail as shop managers, retail assistants, area managers etc and more, apart from administrative jobs. In fact, people have given up jobs to take up employment in or pursue the business of SHC as it paid more.”

Similar sentiments were echoed by Carlos Cambuta from ADRA Angola who emphasised why SHC “is a necessary commodity that is vital to Angola.” About 85% of clothing in Angola is imported—a country quite impoverished when it comes to jobs.

Richa Bansal

RICHA BANSAL has more than 30 years of media industry experience, of which the last 20 years have been with leading fashion magazines in both B2B and B2C domains. Her areas of interest are traditional textiles and fabrics, retail operations, case studies, branding stories, and interview-driven features.

See Full Bio

Now for some more stats:In 2016, SHC sales contributed £140 million to the East Africa economy and supported the livelihoods of over 400,000 people.

Over 1.28 million people are employed in the SHC sectors of Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, with each tonne of SHC imported sustaining on average 6.5 jobs.
The jobs that the SHC sector creates in turn are likely to support over 2.5 million people, taking into account dependents in households.

However, until now, there have been few attempts to more precisely quantify the impact of the SHC sector on employment in African countries. Given the informal nature of the labour market, with 85% of all employment in Sub-Saharan Africa categorised as informal, there are methodological challenges in producing reliable estimates.

This report fills that gap by drawing on case studies from five countries. The countries in this study continue to suffer from high levels of extreme poverty, defined as living below the International Poverty Line of $2.15 a day. “In addition to creating jobs that benefit millions of livelihoods, the SHC trade also provides a valuable and dependable revenue stream for African governments, primarily through charging import duties.”

The report calls on governments and policymakers to examine their approach to used clothing afresh given the demonstrably positive economic, social and environmental impact of the sector: job creation. There is a strong argument for a re-evaluation of the approach to the SHC trade to ensure there is greater strategic investment in order to yield greater socioeconomic outcomes.

Over 1.28 million people are employed in the SHC sectors of Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, with each tonne of SHC imported sustaining on average 6.5 jobs. This represents up to 25% of total service sector employment in countries where a majority of the population relies on non-mechanised agriculture to support their livelihoods.
The jobs that the SHC sector creates in turn are likely to support over 2.5 million people, taking account of dependents in households. A recent study of SHC retailers and traders in Ghana found that 88.1% of those surveyed served as primary earners in their households, and that a majority of traders (87.8%) had one or more dependents, indicating significant contributions to household incomes.
Informal trade and SHC retail can, therefore, provide opportunities to diversify income streams and sustain livelihoods, particularly for those who find themselves stuck in low-productivity, subsistence farming.
The sector generates vital revenue for financially hard-pressed governments. It provides over $73.5 million annually in tax revenues to countries that are among the poorest in the world. These tax revenues fund public services and infrastructure necessary for economic development.
Around two-thirds of the population of Malawi, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Zambia still live in extreme poverty.
The trade enables citizens from low-income households to purchase high-quality and affordable clothing.
The SHC trade offers African governments a sector to champion for further job creation and economic development.

A seller of second-hand clothes at Chimoio in Mozambique. Ton Rulkens / Flickr 2.0

Contrary to the views of some economic commentators, the review of the literature indicates that the growth of used clothing imports is not a credible explanation for the erosion of textile manufacturing in Africa. “A more plausible reason is that African economies currently face a comparative cost disadvantage relative to Asian producers.”

Experts largely agree that difficulties in accessing raw materials and the long-term failure to invest in plant and machinery, alongside a shortage of skills and human capital, have driven the inexorable decline of the textiles industry in many parts of Africa.

This decline was exacerbated by trade liberalisation policies which led to an increased in-flow not only of SHC but more importantly of low-quality imports of new clothes from Asian countries.

It is important to recognise that the used clothing industry is a clear demonstration of a robust circular economy at work which extends the lifecycle of used textiles, while also giving access to affordable, good-quality and sustainable clothing to people in the Global South.
Reducing waste and harmful environmental effects to combat climate change means maximising circularity, which above all entails increasing the longevity and quality of textiles, and thereby increasing the rate of textile reuse. Supporting the growth of this sector can help create more green jobs.

In this light, Beatriz Fernandez from UNEP summed it well when she implored that what is needed is a political cohesion wherein different communities jointly find solutions—not just the ministry of environment but from trade, finance, development, and related stakeholders from developing agencies, from finance community, civil society, research, to turn all the research and information into action—help and support countries—by creating policy coherence.

All the changes that may be wrought through the upcoming regulations, she said, could be looked at by countries to explore “emerging opportunities.” Instead of a "reactive approach,” Beatriz added, there is a shift in that some countries are being proactive and working out how they can start aligning their agenda not only for environmental ambitions but equally for sustainable development goals that look across the textile value chain and promote a more circular industry standing on the pillars of sustainability, environmental protection, economic and social progress.