Is it better to donate clothes or money to Africa? - SOS youths in Cameroon

Hannah Edwards, Press Officer, SOS Children UK

Some people may have noticed that charity collection bins for second-hand clothes are being replaced in certain areas with ones run by commercial recycling companies.

This is because each bag of donated clothes fetches around £7 (according to a recent article in The Observer). Recycling companies often give a percentage of their proceeds to charity, but the sum is usually much smaller than if the charity controls the collection bin.

Now charities are fighting back. Oxfam has just launched its ‘shwopping’ campaign in conjunction with Marks & Spencers, encouraging customers to bring any unwanted clothes directly to M&S stores where they can be placed in ‘Shwop Drops’. The Salvation Army, already with its own clothing recycling division, has just acquired a textile sorting company to have 100% control over the process and revenues. And this month, a consortium of charities will launch a ‘Choose Charity Shops’ campaign, encouraging donors to go straight to their stores.

With many Africans living on less than two dollars each day, there is a huge market for cheap second-hand Western clothes across the continent. However, despite the enthusiasm among charities to deliver such clothes, some African governments are not keen on the trade. Donated items frequently end up in street markets and boutiques, with middlemen making money from the industry, often by smuggling bundles of clothes illegally across borders. And the trade is seen as hurting local textile markets, which is why 12 African countries have banned imports of second-hand clothes.

Other countries continue to allow these imports because of the jobs created. Charities such as Oxfam are certainly great believers in the trade. The charity has even launched a ‘Big Bra Hunt’ campaign, to persuade British women to donate unwanted bras. Many of these end up in Senegal, where Oxfam has set up an ethical clothing project; Frip Ethique employs 40 people and had a 1.5 million pounds turnover in 2010 selling 2,000 tonnes of unwanted clothing. British bras are particularly prized here, since few Senegalese businesses have the technology to make good-quality underwear.

But with 30% of the total value of imports into sub-Saharan Africa now consisting of used clothing (according to a Daily Mail article), some development experts argue that the trade does little to help local manufacturing. Rather than bypassing the problem of underdeveloped industry with cheap imports, they argue that local textile industries should be helped to meet domestic demand. Aid assistance could then be kept to items which only constitute urgent or emergency relief.

However, while families cannot afford to purchase new clothes, the second-hand market is invaluable for many poor African consumers. And the setting up of local organizations or sellers is at least seen as a way to provide employment and empower women, who make up the majority of workers in the trade.

Nevertheless, despite these positives, charities should perhaps remind themselves that they’re not providing sustainable local solutions and long-term, another clothing revolution in Africa will be needed. SOS Children have launched a ‘sustainable sales’ initiative, to encourage supporters to de-clutter, sell their old, unused or unwanted items and raise funds to directly help children around the world. Find out more.