Ghana: fast fashion's dumping ground | Unreported World

Unreported World is in Ghana which is suffering an environmental disaster caused by the fast fashion items we give away. Reporter Ashionye Ogene travels to the bustling market of Kantamanto in the capital city Accra to meet the traders struggling to sell the disposable clothes we no longer want.

Kantamanto was once home to textile traders making a good living from so-called ‘Dead White Man’s Clothes’, items donated from the West believed to be so good that only dead people would part with them. But the arrival of fast fashion is changing that. In 2019 around 63 million kilograms of clothes were imported into Ghana from the UK, much of it cheap and damaged fast fashion donated by us.

But campaigners are deeply concerned about the impact of plastics found in much of our fast fashion. On the beaches of Accra, Ogene discovers a waterfall of mangled clothing flowing from the city’s sewers straight into the ocean. We meet scientists who believe that well known brands now embedded in the sand shed microfibres into the water. Their research has found clothing related plastics in seafood along the west coast of Africa.

While creative solutions are being found, we meet the government minister tasked with finding a balance between banning imports to safeguard the environment, and protecting the livelihoods of thousands of traders.
Producer/Director: Toby Bakare
Series Producer: Andy Lee
Executive Producer: Ed Fraser
Production Company: Channel 4 News

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