Ghanaians are calling on fashion brands to take action after a fire destroyed the world’s largest used clothing market

Yayra Agbofah has barely slept since a fire destroyed the world’s largest second-hand clothing market just over a week ago.

The January 2 fire at the Kantamanto market in Ghana’s capital Accra reduced large parts of the market to rubble, destroyed millions of used items of clothing and endangered the livelihoods of more than 30,000 people.

Agbofah runs The Revival, an organization that creates art and fashion from materials that vendors on the market cannot sell. His company’s warehouse was destroyed by the fire, but his studio was not affected.

Many of his friends and family weren’t so lucky, he says.

“Due to the state of emergency, I was unable to sleep properly and watched as my people, my family and my friends burst into tears because their livelihoods were destroyed and you have to start from scratch,” he said How it happens Host Nil Kӧksal.

Agbofah is raising money to help rebuild the market, which he says plays a central role in Accra’s economy and helps keep millions of tonnes of clothing in circulation that would otherwise end up in oceans and landfills.

He and others are also calling on fast-fashion brands like Shein, H&M and Zara – none of which responded to CBC’s request for comment – to participate financially in cleaning up and rebuilding the market.

“We’re trying to clean up their mess,” he said. “It’s the least they can do to take responsibility.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

From Canadian donation bins to Ghanaian oceans

According to the Or Foundation, an American-Ghanaian charity dedicated to finding sustainable solutions to fast fashion waste, Kantamanto Market vendors recycle approximately 15 million used garments each month through resale, reuse, repair and reprocessing in circulation.

The charity estimates the fire reduced more than 8,000 stalls to dust and directly affected 10,000 workers.

The items sold there mostly come from Canada, the United States and England, Agbofah said, and arrived in Accra’s shipyards almost daily in huge shipping containers.

People in wealthy countries donate used clothing to charities and thrift stores, which take what they need and throw away the rest. What is left is exported to lower-income countries.

But what traders in these countries cannot sell is thrown away and ends up in landfills or the sea, where it clogs beaches and destroys the marine environment.

“Any actions you take in the US and Canada will impact us here. When you consume so much, we have to deal with so much because it ends up with us,” Agbofah said.

“I’m sure a lot of people think I’m helping or doing something by donating to charity, but it’s putting a strain on us.”

The Or Foundation says it is donating $1 million to aid and rebuild after the fire. But she is calling on clothing companies to do their part.

“For too long the fashion industry has used places like Kantamanto as a destination for its excess, but Kantamanto’s work has not been given enough attention to process the results of the linear economy,” fashion designer Nutifafa Mensah, the charity’s peer education lead, said in an emailed statement.

“This is truly a circular model that has been reduced to rubble and as the Kantamanto market seeks to rebuild itself with all its tenacity and resilience, we ask for the fashion industry’s support in its recovery.”

The Ghana Used Clothing Dealers Association (GUCDA), which represents importers of used items in the country, has also appealed to charities, businesses and the country’s government for help.

CBC has reached out to Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry for comment.

Reconstruction is already underway

Tens of thousands of Ghanaians rely on the market to make a living. Agbofah says. That’s why they are already in the renovation process.

“People are working day and night to get the market back on its feet and it’s amazing to see,” he said.

“It restores hope and also shows the resilience of the Kantamanto community that no amount of devastation or fire would destroy the unity and love we have for the market.”

Agbofah says he fell in love with Kantamanto when he first saw it as a child.

“That’s where I found things that I see in the media, things that I see in magazines that we didn’t have access to that were completely new,” he said.

He also saw economic opportunities. In addition to creating clothes from textile waste, he also works as a stylist, mixing and matching “rare jewels” that he buys from Kantamanto stalls.

Despite his fondness for the market, he says he can’t possibly keep up with the flood of goods arriving on Ghana’s shores and turning a profit is harder than ever.

“When you donate to charity, you should think about: Is this product that I’m donating something that someone could use? “Why should you donate torn clothing, heavily soiled items or items in poor condition to charity,” he said.

“Do we deserve torn clothes? Do we deserve items in really bad condition? Ghana is not a landfill.”