Mitumba Kenya – the enterprise of shopping for and promoting second-hand garments, is a boon and a bane for Kenya. Because the everlasting discount hunter, I am keen on visiting Kenya’s well-known clothes markets. ‘Why?’ I hear you ask, ‘What’s so nice about Mitumba?’ Right here’s my perception on why Mitumbu is sweet, and maybe extra importantly, why is Mitumba in Kenya dangerous.

I’m working at my desk, tapping away on the laptop computer as daylight streams by means of my window. It’s rained ferociously all week, and dust is reaching epic proportions. Right here, in my backyard, the jacaranda shakes a vibrant rainfall of violet leaves onto the pea inexperienced garden, and my espresso is great, however all I’m considering is, ‘Ought to I’m going to Toi Market?’ Because the rain will increase in tempo and the world shudders beneath the electrical lights of an African storm, I’m conscious that I might be loopy to surrender the rarified heat of my secure little cocoon to tramp the sludged streets of my native Mitumba, however the magic is within the possibly. The occasional gem that makes all the effort price it. Within the mazed streets of Toi market, the stalls are a rabbit warren of higgly piggly makeshift stands. In the summertime, Toi’s dusted streets are savagely scorching, and distributors border on aggressive as they name out ‘Mama, mama, come look’ with ear-jarring repetition. Within the rain, the streets flood with what I hope is rainwater, and motorbikes whizz up and down slim channels. Intimidating? Positive. A veritable treasure trove of hidden gems? Positively – should you’re up for rummage. I’ve discovered Ralph Lauren, Gucci and Prada attire with tags for a few {dollars}—designer purses for beneath 10 USD. With perseverance and immunity to warmth and trouble, large bargains may be discovered. Kenya’s Mitumba second hand markets are addictive.

Mitumba Kenya – A Temporary Historical past

Let’s begin initially. Forty-odd years in the past,, Kenya’s textile trade, was thriving providing employment to individuals all around the nation from farmers to weavers and designers. Within the Eighties, the textile trade in Kenya skilled a growth as the federal government imposed a 100% tariff on imported items. At the moment, the textile trade employed 200,000 households and 30% of Kenya’s manufacturing workforce, and Kenya exported clothes so far as the US. Nevertheless, within the Nineteen Nineties and 2000s, Kenya started to lose its benefit in opposition to different textile producers due to a collection of political and financial reforms that negatively affected Kenya’s shopping for and promoting energy. On the identical time, Asia ramped up its textile exportation and worldwide powers minimize funding in African international locations. The end result was a discount within the upkeep and renewal of equipment. Add into the combination a collection of droughts that broken Kenya’s cotton harvest and the seal was signed on Kenya’s blossoming dwelling spun trade. As Kenya’s textile manufacturing diminished, the importation of second-hand garments started to growth, and by the mid-Nineteen Nineties, 85% of Kenya’s textile trade had shut down and was changed by Mitumba.

Mitumba Kenya’s Second Hand Clothes Increase

Mitumba is seen by some as a great factor, in any case it employs round 2 million Kenyans and gives low cost clothes to the nation. Mitumba, which suggests bales in Kiswahili, works by gathering second-hand garments donated by charities, and overproduced objects from producers, and packaging them for resale. Bales are sorted in keeping with kind: ladies’s attire, child garments, males’s trousers, and by grade, and priced accordingly. Kenyan entrepreneurs should buy these bales and promote the person objects for a revenue. On the floor, it appears the best answer; the surplus of garments produced by 1st world international locations has a spot to go. Mitumba creates job alternatives and permits Kenyans to work for themselves and personal their very own enterprise, thus offering Kenyans with enterprise associated expertise. The Kenyan authorities advantages from import taxes and charging Mitumba distributors a market stall price. The Kenyan individuals have entry to low cost clothes, and the do-gooders get to really feel smug. Win-win, proper?

Ever heard the saying, ‘For those who give a person a fish, you have got fed him for a day, however should you educate him to fish, you have got fed him for a lifetime.’ The identical goes for the textile trade in Kenya. Individuals creating textiles in Kenya got here from all walks of life: farmers, weavers, sewists, textile designers, engineers, technicians, material printers, material mills, packaging firms, provide chain & transport wants. These individuals had been unbiased and never reliant upon charitable donations for his or her earnings. Many had been expert, with jobs handed down by means of households or discovered by means of apprenticeships. The acquisition and resale of bales of second-hand clothes has severely impacted Kenya’s means to dress itself. Kenya is now one of many world’s largest importers of second-hand clothes, and whereas some 2 million Kenyans work within the Mitumba commerce, it’s totally reliant upon richer international locations. As a technique, the importation of second-hand clothes is in direct opposition to the governmental coverage of Purchase Kenya – Construct Kenya. A coverage which was launched to extend competitiveness and consumption of regionally produced items and companies.

The Enormous Environmental Price of Mitumba in Kenya

Kenya has turn out to be a dumping floor for undesirable textiles from developed international locations. Textile waste air pollution is round 74,000 tonnes per yr, and most of it leads to landfills; if it makes it that far, the ruddy streets and waterways of Nairobi and Mombasa are clogged with cast-off material, plastic buttons and rusting zips. Landfills stand 4 storeys excessive, their contents emitting harmful poisonous gases as they decompose, polluting the soil and degrading the pure setting. The Altering Markets Basis (CMF) states that Kenya receives round 37 million objects of junk clothes from Europe alone every year. An growing variety of objects that arrive in Kenya in Mitumba are broken or soiled and never match to be bought within the markets. In keeping with Greenpeace, round 40 % of Mitumba items are despatched straight to landfills. It appears to me that developed international locations are offloading their landfill objects within the guise of serving to poorer nations. �

As accountable individuals and environmental warriors, we should always boycott Mitumba, proper? However the reply is extra advanced. Throughout COVID-19, the federal government banned the import of Mitumba objects, fearing that the clothes would unfold the virus. The end result was that just about a million Kenyans had their earnings minimize off. Knowledge from MSC confirmed that solely 39% of Kenyans put aside cash for emergencies, and when COVID-19 hit, these backup funds ran out shortly. With their livelihood minimize off, Kenyans whose commerce was in Mitumba had no inherent expertise to fall again on and struggled to feed and dress their households. The social and financial value of shutting Mitumba down was big. At this time Mitumba is again and larger than ever, albeit with inflated costs, however Covid taught us {that a} whole ban on Mitumba is now not sensible. The import of second-hand clothes has turn out to be a lifestyle for the Kenyan individuals. Not solely is it a monetary lifeline however Kenyans admire accessing good high quality trendy clothes that’s reasonably priced for everybody.

So what’s the answer? Nicely, the federal government is creaming 12 billion shillings a yr from Mitumba, so it isn’t going wherever quickly. The one answer appears to be to work on rebuilding Kenya’s textile trade whereas implementing tips and restrictions on imported objects into Kenya. If all Mitumba Kenya objects are wearable and good high quality, then bales can be bought of their entirety and never confined to landfills or dumped within the streets. As well as, lowering second-hand clothes provide could assist reinvigorate Kenya’s textile trade. It’s totally doable for the native textile trade to exist alongside Mitumba contemplating the 2 segments deal in several markets and function at completely different value factors.

What can we do to assist? Share tales like this, and push international governments to deal with the inequalities within the system. Within the meantime, I’ll assist native companies by persevering with to buy at Toi. You by no means know, in the future I’ll discover that cup slipper which is little question lurking inside a pile of second-hand Crocs. Purchase Kenya, Construct Kenya.

Finest Mitumba Markets in Nairobi

• Toi Mitumba – Ngong Highway – Toi is the place I’m going. Its the closest and I typically really feel secure there.
• Gikomba Mitumba – Nairobi’s largest market
• Ngara Market
• Kibuye Market – Close to Kibuye roundabout
• Kawangware market – Kawangware
• Kariokore – alongside Kariokore Highway

Additional Studying

https://theexpatmummy.com/33-best-restaurants-in-nairobi-2023/

https://theexpatmummy.com/kids-nairobi-what-to-do-and-where-to-go/

https://theexpatmummy.com/21-incredible-family-friendly-resorts-in-kenya/

https://theexpatmummy.com/kenya-travel-guidelines-before-you-travel/

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