It takes drastic measures to reverse Kenya’s negative environmental impacts caused by Mitumba imports
A designer’s viewpoint on promoting true ‘systemic change’ that supports sustainable textile production in Kenya.
When it comes to textile waste, Kenya’s cities and major towns are facing an environmental catastrophe.
Not only does 40% of mutush (ironically referred to as “pre-loved” clothing in the West) end up filling landfills in Dandora and massively accumulating in Toi Market and other places, but the cheap unusable clothing is made of synthetics fibers that will take hundreds of years to decompose.
According to texfash (2022) and impacc (2022), a staggering 200 tonnes of textile waste is dumped in Kenya every day, with only a small fraction of this being recycled.
It is difficult to contextualize the exact amount that is recycled locally, but going by global standards of less than 1% of all textiles produced being recycled, this number can only mean that it is negligible in the Kenyan context. Upon a little digging, I would like to acknowledge Africa Collect Textile (Kenya) efforts for tackling the recycling issue head on. This company has been lauded for kickstarting a circular economy for textiles in Kenya that’s is diverting used textiles and footwear from the landfills whilst also supporting the economic and social-ethical priorities within the country. They are a ‘climate super brand’ to watch.
Greenpeace’s eye-opening report, Poisoned Gifts, nails it when it posits that (some) global fashion brands promoting circularity are a myth. I couldn’t agree more; in essence, they are ‘greenwashing’ the universe with fancy buzzwords like CE fashion business, slow fashion, and ethical fashion, and others have even gone so far as to obtain B Corp certification — a badge that endorses brands established for their stand on good business practice — yet we know that they are happy to bring their reject/old clothes/ out-of-season to the Global South as a way of clearing their markets from these textiles.
Another issue with textile waste is that when it decomposes, it emits methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming and, eventually, climate change. The remainder of these mitumba are discarded in waterways such as tributaries, rivers, and dams.
They’re a sore sight to behold. Visit anyone along the Spring Valley, Loresho, Kyuna water belt (it’s called Kibarage river) to see how much of a nuisance it is for gardeners (and home owners) who clean the waste (majority of it is from textiles) that runs along their river frontages or backyards on a weekly basis. Upstream, slum dwellers’ dumping has only but increased. These waters stink to high heaven and when mixed with other deadly waste, can deter any prospective tenant from considering living in these ‘leafy surburbs’.
If that is not enough to scare anyone, I really do not know what will. I am not a policymaker, but if I were Kenya’s esteemed Minister of Trade and Industrialization, I would put a halt to the amount of textile imports from Asia, China, the United States, and the United Kingdom that arrive at our port. Kenyans love buying mitumba (9 out of 10 Kenyans buy mitumba; Infinite Insight, 2022) but they are being duped. We are the dumping ground for the West’s fast-fashion-gone-out-of-season-onto-the-next-trend lifestyle. This practice should be discontinued; in fact, all Kenyan climate activists, behavioral designers and environmentalists should urgently band together and advocate for climate action on this single issue (textile waste), as it is a malady to the environment.
To put things in perspective the gravity of the issue, the global fashion industry contributes 10% to climate change (more than aviation and shipping industries combined). This sector loses about $500 billion in value each year due to a lack of collection and recycling infrastructure and overproduction of garments (UN Environment, 2019; impacc, 2022). A runners up issue (yes there is more) is that the fashion industry is the second largest consumer of fresh water. I need not even discuss Africa’s water issue (and lack there of) because we all know how getting fresh water is becoming scarce, now and into the future.
As a layman and designer (most recently wishing to be more involved in spotlighting and contributing to solving ‘wicked problems’) I however would like to highlight some of the benefits and positive effects of stopping the imports of textiles. Please note that, respectfully, I do know the benefits of importing textiles (eg employment, cheap clothing etc) but however good they are, this was not my reasons for writing (excuse me) this alarmist article.
Banning textile imports has its advantages which most likely include (in no particular order);
a) curb the high rate of textile waste polluting our environment which stand at around 74,000 tonnes per year that ends up being dumped (AfricaNews, 2022a;2022b; texfash, 2022), polluting soils and causing toxic gas emissions (P4G, 2023)
b) consequently because of a) we would see less environmental pollution, reduced greenhouse gases, reduce textiles clogging our waterways; hopefully getting them back to how clean and drinkable they were like in the early ‘80s and before
c) knock on effect would bolster up production of textiles from local textile industries. I’d like to mention here that there are so many benefits of this as the fashion value chain is extended than most and would give a lot more of opportunities to citizens; from farmers, textile designers, engineers and technicians, youth and women, fabric digital printers, cloth mills, end of the supply chain operators eg shippers and packaging companies. One such company that is in the frontline of championing this (ambitious) systemic change within the fashion industry is UndaMeta Limited.
To launch in Q1 2023, this platform is a system innovation that is cutting its path towards normalizing wearing ‘buy-online made in Kenya fabrics/textile’ and is unlocking opportunities at the textile design and production stage within the Kenya textile and fashion value chain. It links fabric designers, fabric producers, fabric makers and buyers (infinite Insight, 2022; Kibuchi, 2022) in its ecosystem. When it launches, the platform promises to be a marketplace for print-on-demand African-inspired pattern design and custom fabrics.
d) As a result, Kenyans will have easier access to affordable, high-quality fabrics without the carbon footprint associated with shipping from the Global North or neighboring countries.
e) celebrate our own cultural heritage and designs that are so love and worn, such as kitenge
f) create sustainable jobs for the textile designers, illustrators, mill workers and local fashion industry at large
g) minimize reliance of buying West African textiles imports which are considered expensive and only accessible to a few and a luxury to many
h) minimize overproduction of textiles as their model is a POD model which focuses on slow fashion constructs by only having individuals buying off the platform and fashion makers print only what they need
i) increase efforts and encourage brands to produce ethical fabrics in large quantities such as Tosheka and Silk Origin, to continue production with the prospect of a thriving local fashion industry. This means more silk fibers being produced, more cotton farmers growing cotton and even more exploration through R&D for the production of hemp textiles and citrus fruit waste into fibers from many Kenyan farms that overproduce oranges, tangerines and mangoes
h) and many more benefits that can be conjured up that influence the growth of Kenya’s creative economy and more specifically the fashion sector
Clearly, the benefits of prohibiting textile imports outweigh the need to import used clothing.
The big question is whether Kenyans are prepared to face this reality. And would the government dare?
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References
Africanews. (2022 October 24a). Kenya struggles to recycle volumes of textile waste. Retrieved from https://www.africanews.com/2022/10/23/kenya-struggles-to-recycle-growing- volumes-of-textile-waste//
Africanews. (2022 October 24b). Kenya struggles to recycle volumes of textile waste. Youtube Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCS96Owszrs
Cobbing, M., Daaji, S., Koop, M., Wohlgemuth, V. (2022 April). Poisoned Gifts. From donations to the dumpsite: textile waste disguised as second hand clothes exported to East African. Greenpeace. https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-international-stateless/2022/04/9f50d3de-greenpeace-germany-poisoned-fast-fashion-briefing-factsheet-april-2022.pdf
Impacc. (2022 December 20). Africa Collect Textiles: recycling and upcycling textile waste. Retrieved from https://www.impacc.org/en/africa-collect-textiles- act/#:~:text=Less%20than%201%25%20of%20all,of%20collection%20and%20recycling% 20infrastructure
Infinite Insight. (2022). African fabric designs: Report — UndaMeta omnibus section (Kenya, November 2022) [Omnibus study]. Retrieved from https://www.infiniteinsight.net/Unda_Meta_African_Designs_Report.pdf
Kibuchi, W. (2022 November 9). Meet the Nairobi Hub voucher recipients: UndaMeta [article]. AHSCE. https://www.creative-economies-africa.org/2022/11/meet-the-nairobi-hub- voucher-scheme-recipients-undameta/
texfash (2022 April 25). Africa-unbound. 40% of ‘pre-loved’ clothing is actually textile waste. Retrieved from https://texfash.com/special/africa-unbound-40-of-pre-loved-clothing-is- actually-textile-waste