The session aims to provide deeper context on community members' position within the global secondhand clothing trade and a clear understanding of potential global and local policies, so that Kantamanto Market stakeholders and other actors within the principally informal secondhand clothing sector in Ghana who are currently performing circularity practices (e.g. retailers, upcyclers, kayayei (headporters)) are adequately equipped ahead of the August session (noted below) and empowered to engage a broader stakeholder group. We also aim to support both the sector mapping and the criteria for reuse components of the project through the directed dialogue and information session. It will s session will be conducted in multiple languages e.g. English, Twi and Dagbani.Pillar 1: Understanding Ghana’s unique position within the secondhand clothing trade
- To deepen understanding of Ghana's role in the secondhand clothing trade, insights and feedback from local stakeholders on The Or Foundation's upcoming microfiber report will be integrated into UNEP's work streams. This approach will help contextualize the environmental challenges posed by textile waste and illustrate how these challenges impact Ghanaian communities that are at the forefront of ecological damage.
Pillar 2: Understanding Potential Global Policies
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To explore the landscape of evolving global policies and their potential impacts on Kantamanto, verbal communication and visual methods will be used as part of the project deliverables. Presentations will outline various scenarios and their implications. EU proposals and work from the Circular Economy and Chatham House will be provided in local languages during the session. Additionally, policies like California's EPR bill will be explained by The Or Foundation with simultaneous translation support. Feedback will be collected after stakeholders have had adequate time to review and understand the information.
Pillar 3: Definition of Waste
- This pillar will be most instrumental to the UNEP workstream, underpinning the development of global guidelines on waste criteria.
- Key questions to determine from the stakeholders:
- How do people from across the value chain within Kantamanto Market, e.g. secondhand retailers vs. secondhand upcyclers, think about waste in the market?
- How does the definition of waste impact the market?
- This session will leverage translations and visual media developed internally at The Or Foundation.
- This includes sharing the Importers' Report
- Feedback will be collated from stakeholders via open conversations and recorded audio responses to be transcribed into written English.
Pillar 4: Informed Futuring - Connecting with Ghana's Policy Landscape
- Using the knowledge shared throughout the workshop, this last pillar will answer the key questions of:
- Where are the greatest challenges and needs for the local market stakeholders?
- How might this be addressed by local policy?
- Where do community members see the greatest opportunities to thrive?
- This final pillar will set the tone and positioning of these stakeholders to feel adequately prepared and well-informed to actively participate in August's wider stakeholder session and to support the mapping of potential local actions within the Ghanaian policy landscape as part of the UNEP project.
