Kantamanto Market Fire: Challenging Fashion's Overconsumption Crisis
Kantamanto Market in Accra, the capital of Ghana, has been a popular destination for second-hand clothing for a long time, but it is now overwhelmed by a surge of imports.
Six weeks ago on the heels of the holiday season, a devastating fire broke out at Kantamanto Market, one Africa’s largest second-hand clothing markets in Ghana on January 2. On any given day, around 15 million garments are shipped to this market per week where about 500,000 garments are dumped in unofficial landfills and beaches every week. The congestion and lack of safety measures was one of the biggest factors of the fire.
Inside Kantamanto Market: The Heart of Africa’s Second-hand Fashion Trade
Kantamanto, once a vibrant hub filled with thousands of stalls overflowing with clothing from well-known brands like H&M, Levi Strauss, Tesco, Primark, and New Look, has faced a devastating transformation following a fire. This bustling market was a lifeline for around 30,000 individuals who relied on it for their livelihoods, and now they find themselves in a difficult struggle to make ends meet. Renowned as one of the largest centres for secondhand clothing globally, locally referred to as obroni wawu or “dead white person’s clothes,” the market primarily sources garments from wealthier nations. In 2023, Ghana's import of used clothing reached $121 million (£96 million), positioning it as the eighth largest importer worldwide, with the bulk of these items coming from the UK, China, and the US. Vendors in Kantamanto typically receive these clothes in 55kg bales from exporters and importers.
Each week, around 15 million clothing items arrive, with nearly 40% of them ending up as waste. Most of these garments come from the global secondhand market, which was valued at $5 billion in 2021. Many of these items begin as donations from Europe and North America, where charities collect them to assist those in need or to sell for funding.
Unfortunately, they only manage to sell about 10% of what they receive, resulting in a series of sales where each buyer takes what they can, leaving the final buyer with the least desirable pieces.
(Infographic Courtesy of The Guardian)
As the fast fashion industry has expanded, characterised by inexpensive clothing that is quickly discarded, the influx of garments into the market has surged, but unfortunately, the quality has significantly declined. For many years, the community at Kantamanto has taken pride in washing, repairing, and creatively refashioning these clothes for resale. However, recent research conducted in 2023-24, reveals a troubling trend: approximately 26.5 tonnes, equating to millions of clothing items, are now discarded as waste each week, highlighting the pressing challenges faced by this once-thriving marketplace.
How You Can Help: Supporting Kantamanto Market’s Rebuilding Efforts
The OR Foundation, a non-profit that works with vendors in Kantamanto, has committed to donating $1 million dollars to the effort. They have also set up a fund for donations that will go directly to those impacted. You can donate here.
How The OR Foundation is Transforming Fashion’s Future
The Or Foundation (pronounced “or”) is all about choice. Choice means having the power to break free from the harsh realities of corporate colonialism and to make changes from the inside out. Their work sits at the crossroads of environmental justice, education, and fashion development. Their mission? To find and promote alternatives to the mainstream fashion model—ones that foster ecological health instead of harm and encourage people to engage with fashion beyond just being consumers.
Their main goal is to spark a Justice-Led Circular Economy. This involves multiple layers of work, including providing immediate support through direct action against human rights and environmental violations, running educational programs to inspire personal change, and advocating for policy shifts at the institutional level. Every initiative they undertake is rooted in the belief that achieving justice in Reckoning, Recovery, and Reparations.
What is Waste Colonialism?
Waste colonialism refers to the practice where one group exploits waste and pollution to exert control over another group in their own territory. This concept first emerged in 1989 during the United Nations Environmental Programme Basel Convention, when African countries raised alarms about wealthier nations dumping hazardous waste in poorer countries.
Essentially, waste colonialism highlights how land is often treated as a dumping ground, or a “sink,” which is particularly evident in places like Accra’s Kantamanto Market, known as the largest secondhand market globally.
How the Fire Impacted Local Communities & Ghana's Economy
The lively hood of over 30,000 traders has directly affected 8,000 people, predominantly women. This tragedy also calls for an opportunity for the change in Kantamanto Market and beyond by rebuilding to create a market place that focuses on the creation of clothing and also the opportunity for more sustainable brands to up-cycle their product. The global fashion industry has a responsibility to take on this challenge to create a safer and cleaner and champion the TRUE definition of up-cycled garments.
Can Second-hand Clothing Solve the Textile Waste Crisis?
The market is constructed in an unsafe manner and also extremely congested due to the high volume of toxic fashion products being shipped to Ghana daily. Additionally, Kantamanto Market has become a major dumping ground for fast fashion brands like Shein, contributing to the overconsumption of clothing made from unsustainable materials, at a rate that exceeds consumer demand.
The heat, the abundance of clothing, the cramped conditions, and the inadequate electrical setup create an environment filled with ongoing distress—yet the Global North continues to turn a blind eye to these problems, which it has played a role in creating.
The Road Ahead: Sustainable Fashion Solutions & Post-Fire Rebuilding
1. Management Costs That Matter
EPR fees need to match the eco-friendly waste management costs across the global supply chain and should encourage alternatives to traditional waste methods. We suggest starting eco-modulated fees at $0.50 for every new garment produced as a baseline for EPR initiatives.
2. Global Responsibility
EPR programs should reflect the actual flow of waste worldwide, ensuring funds are allocated to support circular systems in both the Global South and Global North. This approach should also address the losses and damages caused by the fashion industry's excessive waste that has been dumped on under-resourced and climate-vulnerable communities.
3. Transparency for Circular Goals
To implement eco-modulated EPR fees effectively, companies must disclose their production volumes for each eco-modulation category. We advocate for this data to be publicly accessible on a company-by-company basis, along with a commitment to reduce new clothing production by at least 40% over five years, while also boosting the reuse and remanufacturing of existing materials.
At ADJOAA we believe that it's time for the fashion industry to step up and make a difference by helping to rebuild and communicate the true meaning of upcycling.
How do you think the fashion industry should address overconsumption? Share your thoughts in the comments or follow us for more insights. Follow ADJOAA on Instagram.
https://apparelinsider.com/fast-fashions-final-stop/
https://stopwastecolonialism.org/
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