Ghana’s famous second-hand Kantamanto Market, still recovering from a devastating fire in January, is protesting the “ongoing misrepresentation, including false claims that the market is a waste dumping ground,” condemning the “hypocrisy and misinformation campaign” of a US-based NGO.
- The one-day strike on 11 April saw hundreds of Kantamanto traders close their stalls and take to the streets of Accra, calling on the Or Foundation and its partners to respect their trade.
- The peaceful strike sought to highlight the positive impact of the second-hand trade on livelihoods and the environment while condemning the Or Foundation’s “hypocrisy and misinformation campaign”.
- The strike organised by the Ghana Used Clothing Dealers Association (GUCDA), was to defend the dignity of traders and set the record straight about the vital second-hand clothing (SHC) trade.
- Kantamanto is one of Ghana’s largest second-hand clothing hubs with 5000 shops and 30,000 individual workers. It supplies affordable, quality clothing to millions of Ghanaians and others across West Africa, playing a major role in the global circular economy.
GUCDA CHARGE: The Or Foundation has “received money from ultra-fast fashion even as it portrays Kantamanto’s hardworking traders as perpetrators of a waste crisis.”
- The second-hand clothing sector is cleaning up the fashion industry’s mess, not causing it.
SHC SECTOR: Ghana’s second-hand clothing trade is a “critical economic lifeline and an environmental boon often overlooked by foreign critics.”
- The SHC sector directly and indirectly supports roughly 2.5 million Ghanaians through jobs ranging from importing and retail to tailoring and transportation.
- An estimated 95% of Ghanaians rely on affordable second-hand clothes, underscoring the trade’s importance for basic needs.
- Environmentally, by extending the life of garments, markets like Kantamanto divert huge volumes of clothing from landfills and incinerators and reduce the need for new clothing production.
THE CONTEXT: A key grievance driving the strike is the spread of false statistics and sensational images by the Or Foundation and its allies which has stoked a global debate on waste dumping in Ghana, putting the trade at risk. GUCDA refutes the oft-quoted claim that “40–50%” of imported second-hand clothing becomes waste, a figure originally promoted by the Or Foundation’s disputed small-sample research.
A report published by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH provides a detailed analysis of the flows of used textiles going in and out of Kantamanto. Some findings:
- That of the 300 tonnes entering the market each week, about 3.6 tonnes (or 1.2%) is waste.
- The Kantamanto Market operates as a well-organised and closed system with clear rules, task distributions, and hierarchies and "it is a prime example for a circular economy".
- The quantity of textiles at the major official landfill site was observed to be tiny compared to overall amount of waste and textiles forms only "a rather small portion of the total waste ending up on a beach near Accra, comprising of many cuttings and fishing nets. The majority is plastic packaging illegally dumped over a nearby cliff.”
- Of the lowest value, grade 3 clothing put on the market each week, that other observers have cited as likely to become waste quickly, almost 90% is actually sold directly as a product or re-worked and upcycled to be sold.
- Of the estimated 26.5–53 tonnes of textile waste generated weekly, almost half are textile off-cuts generated by tailoring services. The items being repaired might be used clothing recently brought onto the market, new (but faulty) goods which can be shipped into the market under the guise of used clothing, or clothing which has been bought several years ago and brought back by the owner to be repaired.
WHAT THEY SAID:
We will not remain silent while our work is discredited. Traders work tirelessly to give a second life to clothing that would otherwise end up in landfills in Europe or America. We refuse to allow the trade and the image of Ghana to be tarnished by the Or Foundation’s false narratives. It is especially painful that an organisation claiming to champion sustainability is spreading lies about a thriving, sustainable trade that supports livelihoods and clothes millions of our people, all while benefiting from fast fashion money.
The hypocrisy is astounding. An independent analysis we commissioned in 2024 found that less than 5% of clothing in imported bales is truly unsellable waste. Other independent research has shown that textile waste levels leaving the market are much lower than 40% of what is arriving in imports. As for the pictures of clothes on beaches, they ignore the context – most of that is municipal waste mismanagement, not because we traders failed to do our job. It’s unfair and misleading to use such images to tarnish the entire trade.
The traders seek an end to the narrative that blames Kantamanto’s traders for the world’s excesses, and a renewed focus on the real issues – overproduction, poor waste infrastructure, and the need to invest in Africa’s circular economy champions.
— Edward B Atobrah
General Secretary
Ghana Used Clothing Dealers Association
Rather than nonsensical talks of bans backed by wrong information we need to take the right (and positive) step and help Ghana and other countries to protect their jobs in this vibrant and highly sustainable economy. We also need to help them develop their waste management infrastructure and divert the valuable resources that are being discarded there into the global circular economy. What is more, please listen to people in Ghana, Kenya and other African countries and give their voice precedence over the voices of those in the global north who sit in their ivory towers, passing comments based on observations that they do not understand.
— Alan Wheeler
Chief Executive Officer
Textile Recycling Association
This market is how I feed my family and send my children to school. We take pride in our work. When Or Foundation people came here, we welcomed them, thinking they wanted to help. But then they used our pictures and stories to tell the world a terrible tale that isn’t true. They showed us as if we were drowning in trash. We feel betrayed – they took advantage of our goodwill. It’s not fair. We are businesswomen and men making a living and helping clothe our fellow Ghanaians.
— Regina Kissiwa
Trader of second-hand clothing
Kantamanto Market
