Many communities in the Global South are burdened with disposing of the Global North's unwanted textiles. These items often end up in local markets like Kantamanto Market, where limited resources drive the creation of innovative re- and upcycling methods to repurpose what we consider waste.
Kantamanto Market, one of the largest second-hand markets, and an incredible circular ecosystem
Kantamanto market, in Accra Ghana, is the largest second-hand clothing market in West Africa. Its ecosystem sees over 15 million garments coming in every week of which 40% leaves the market as waste within a month, ending up in Accras overflowing landfills leaching into nature and the ocean, all due to waste colonialism from the global North. Our initiative aims to highlight Kantamanto’s incredible ecosystem and support it to thrive as the circular fashion hub it is. By engaging business acceleration, waste management, and circular fashion partners, we seek to celebrate the creative resilient community that is Kantamanto to become an example of how we could approach fashion in a more planet-centric way. Through a growth-to-degrowth approach, we aim to support the development of the market beyond dependency on the waste streams from the global North.
