Ghana faces scourge of textile pollution
22 January 2022 |
12:31 pm
In Ghana, second-hand clothes once worn by Westerners are polluting ecosystems and causing significant public health problems. Every day, 160 tonnes of clothes arrive in the country: garments that were donated to charities in Europe or the US and are sent to Africa by recycling companies. An entire economy is based on the reselling of these old clothes, but few are in a fit state to be sold on. In the capital Accra, these unsellable garments form a huge textile mountain on the edge of the Atlantic. Residents regularly burn it, exposing locals to harmful fumes. Our France 2 colleagues report, with FRANCE 24's Camille Nedelec.
Related
21 Jul 2021
Good governance and an active civil society spare Ghana from the militia attacks that the neighboring countries are faced with. According to experts, democratic processes are well in place in the West African country.
21 Jul 2021
These Ghanaian youth are rejecting bags of food sent to them by a politician. In the video that has now gone viral, the angry youth could be heard demanding for jobs and not food items.
31 Jul 2021
The proposed bill could see LGBTQ community members imprisoned between five to 10 years for identifying or advocating for their rights.
31 Jul 2021
Thousands of people have already flocked to Ghana's National Mosque after it opened earlier this month. Are you planning to visit the gorgeous new complex?
5 Aug 2021
Social media users in Ghana are joining together under the hashtag #FixTheCountry to put pressure on the government. The movement has left cyberspace and taken to the streets.
7 Aug 2021
The 21 activists who had been arrested for attending an LGBTQ event in May have been acquitted. The activists were taken into custody by police in a move that caused outrage among rights groups.
12 Sep 2021
Ghana's 'lean season' is particularly bad this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Farmers are short on cash and food. But fellow farmer Nanleeb Konlan donates his surplus grain to needy farmers and villagers.
12 Sep 2021
Illegal mining, or "galamsey" is attracting more and more young people in eastern Ghana. Many young people are arrested, but they are adamant that without an alternative, illegal mining remains a viable way of survival.
17 Sep 2021
The numbers of children in Accra picking through rubbish for scrap metal and plastic to sell to recycling dealers has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
16 Oct 2021
Ghana is blessed with a variety of locally produced food staples but anemia in pregnancy, malnutrition and stunting are still prevalent, especially among poor communities. Health experts attribute the problem to family’s inability to balance the diets. Young nurses in Pelungu, eastern Ghana to organize a cooking exhibition to teach mothers how to cook nutrient-rich foods for their children.
21 Oct 2021
Ghana's smock garment used to be reserved for royal use. These days, a flood of imported yarn has opened the market to near universal use, and the smock has become a Ghanaian clothing icon. Yet the country's collapsed cotton industry has left the financial fortunes of weavers and smock makers hanging by a thread.
4 Dec 2021
Ghana's digital innovation week brings together pacesetters, entrepreneurs and investors all seeking to use technology for real social change.
Latest
1 hour ago
Haute cuisine without citrus, chocolate and pepper? More restaurants in Berlin are going local, using only products grown in the region.
1 hour ago
Numerous reports indicate Russia's partial mobilization has been disorganized and arbitrary. DW spoke to some who received draft notices even though they should not have.
2 hours ago
Bulgarians have cast their votes in the fourth election the country has seen in 18 months. The EU's poorest member is struggling with double-digit inflation and divisions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
2 hours ago
An Austrian museum has returned home the remains of dozens of Indigenous New Zealanders stolen in the 19th century. The remains were "stolen with no regard" for New Zealand tribes, officials from both countries said.
3 hours ago
When the war began, Ukrainian authorities stopped extending Russian citizens' residency permits. Since then, their status has become unclear and many face deportation.
3 hours ago
The protesters claimed that a recent suicide bombing in Kabul was specifically meant to target girls of the historically oppressed Hazara community. The UN says 35 were killed and 82 wounded.