The Nov. 5 op-ed by Nana Wanjau, “Fast fashion’s dirty secret: hazardous textile waste,” does a disservice to Kenya’s secondhand clothing industry in claiming that half of imported, or “donated,” clothing is “worthless.” Imported clothing is sorted and graded before arrival in Kenya. In fact, multiple studies across Africa find textile waste in imported bales to be less than 5 percent. In Kenya, it’s 2 percent. This is because Kenya requires a Pre-Export Verification of Conformity certificate, following checks by government-appointed agencies at sorting centers in exporting countries, before a bale even reaches Kenya.
The mitumba, or secondhand, trade is not waste dumping. It is a cornerstone of Kenya’s circular economy, employing around 2 million people, many of them women; contributing an estimated 16 billion Kenyan shillings annually in import duties (the equivalent of more than $123 million); and providing affordable, quality clothing to more than 23 million Kenyans. Each garment that is reused extends its life span and reduces the need for new production, helping the planet, not harming it.
Kenya’s challenge lies in managing post-consumer waste, not in the importation of used goods. The real culprit is the overproduction of fast fashion, which, as Wanjau notes, floods global markets with low-quality, short-lived garments.
Portraying African markets as “dumping grounds” ignores both the data and the dignity of millions of traders working toward a more circular, equitable global fashion system.
Teresiah Wairimu Njenga
Chairperson
Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya
Nairobi