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5/24: Kejetia Market

The Kejetia Market is West Africa’s largest open space market spanning eleven miles

Here is a video from YouTube (2010) of a person walking through the market. I feel like it paints a good picture for what the market looks like; however, I felt that in our experience, the aisles were more narrow and the ground was more uneven. It was a struggle to keep up with the group with how many twists and turns our guide took us through. Fortunately, the group found each other and we were good to go. Then, it started raining. Drenched and searching for cover, a kind bead booth owner let us hang out in her booth until the rain passed.

A view of the market from a slightly elevated position

The reason we went to the market was to place an order for children’s uniforms. There are no public schools in Ghana, and to go to a private school, one is required to have a uniform. The uniforms cost less than $5 USD, but are a major barrier to entry for a majority of Ghanaian children. We pooled together enough money to purchase 90 uniforms to donate to the Torgome Village.

A secondhand clothing stall at the Kejetia Market

At the market, we observed several stalls selling secondhand clothing and goods. You may or may not realize, but major secondhand clothing stores are so overwhelmed with clothing donations that between 40% and 75% are donated to the international secondhand clothing trade (Gott & Loughran, pg. 40, 2010). Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are the world’s largest secondhand clothing destination, receiving about 30% of the world’s secondhand clothing export in 2001 (Gott & Loughran, pg. 42, 2010).

The stigma associated with wearing secondhand western-style clothing varies from country to country in Africa. Countries with longstanding regional style (like Senegalese and Nigeria) place pride on dressing in traditional style clothing. In contrast, pre-colonial Zambia lacked significant textile crafts, and people across the socioeconomic spectrum dress in secondhand western-styled clothing (Gott & Loughran, pg. 44, 2010). It is even argued that “in effect, people in Zambia have been wearing Western-styled clothing for so long that they have made it their own” (Gott & Loughran, pg. 45, 2010).

The Zambian people do not passively purchase western-style clothing to adopt Western culture; rather, they are actively involved in making it their own to reflect their personal values and tastes (Gott & Loughran, pg. 51, 2010). It is posed that secondhand clothing is “a form of cultural improvisation in which the meaning and value of this clothing is constructed anew on local terms” (Gott & Loughran, pg. 51, 2010). It is further posed that “the local value of imported secondhand clothes is created through a variety of processes that strip this imported commodity of its prior life and redefines it, readying it to enter new lives and relationships” (Gott & Loughran, pg. 50, 2010).

The clothing arrives in bundles that have to be picked through. Garment selection “is not a process of random clothing selection but a strategic exercise that draws on specialist, practical, and localized knowledge.” Although they may alter the garments, “what is being transformed is not necessarily the garment but its meaning. This is to say that the body is the site on which cultural ideals are constructed through dress” (Gott & Loughran, pg. 50, 2010).

Secondhand clothing consumers seek unique pieces to create an entire look (Gott & Loughran, pg. 47, 2010). Just like buyers for boutiques in the States, buyers for boutiques in the secondhand market seek garments that will merchandise well together in terms of visual presentation and sales.