Africa Melane would have typically spent Thursday 15 August discussing the news of the day at his post at CapeTalk, in this case, Floyd Shivambu’s resignation from the EFF. “But I would argue talking about the planet is far more important,” he said, opening the floor as the MC for this year’s Africa Textile Talks.
The 2024 programme was curated to introduce you to makers and thinkers from South Africa and across the continent who are taking the textile industry forward – often by reflecting on the past – into a positive post-fossil fuel future. The event was supported by Sappi, Cape Wools SA, Mohair South Africa, H&M, Hemporium, Merchants on Long, Pedersen + Lennard, V&A Waterfront, Polo South Africa and Global Organic Textile Standard.
Story of Transformation
Visiting from Nigeria, Nkwo Onwuka opened the day’s programme
Keynote speaker Nkwo Onwuka’s creativity was fostered through her upbringing; with TV only allowed on Saturdays, she was inspired to use her imagination, making her own toys from materials like cereal boxes and using the scraps from her mother’s sewing table to craft doll clothes. Today, she honours her inner child on a grander scale, reimagining textile waste and preserving African craft through her eponymous label, NKWO.
Nkwo noted that her presentation would not just be a talk, but also a story, a theme that would run throughout the day’s programme. “Because in Africa, most of the things we learn or used to learn are through stories,” she said.
She used the story of Lake Chad to show the knock-on effects of climate change. The lake, located in the far west of Chad and northeast Nigeria, has diminished by 90 percent over three decades. Not only has this led to hunger and loss of income, but also displacement, often to places controlled by extremists.
Today, Nkwo employs ten women she met in an internally displaced people (IDP) camp, where they were escaping Boko Haram’s reign. She taught them to use a loom and to create the fabric she invented, Dakala cloth, named for the ‘sakala’ sound the loom makes combined with a nod to its origin material: denim.
NKWO is founded on four core pillars: innovation, conservation, preservation, and transformation. Nkwo’s innovative spirit is exemplified in her creation of Dakala cloth, which is made from denim waste and now forms part of the V&A Museum’s permanent collection. The brand shows its commitment to conservation by not using virgin materials, while African craft skills are preserved by working with traditional looms.
Among the products offered by NKWO are ‘Transformables’, where customers send in their old denim to be transformed into a bespoke capsule wardrobe. This process, which Nkwo refers to as ‘reverse retail,’ extends beyond fashion—it also transforms the lives of the women who work at NKWO, positively impacting their families as well.
Hemp in South Africa: from tradition to innovation
Ayanda Bam is one of South Africa’s experts on hemp
Ayanda Bam, Co-Founder and CEO of TexTTan Industries, set out to demystify hemp and highlight its potential in the fashion sector and beyond. With the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act (CfPPA) signed into law in May 2024, South Africa has entered a new era where hemp is finally legal. We can now grow, process, manufacture, distribute, and consume hemp and related products.
The story of hemp in our country mirrors a broader African pattern: indigenous knowledge stamped out by colonial powers. While native to Asia, the cannabis plant has been growing in African soils for over 1,000 years. Ayanda explored its historical journey, from the Colonial era and War on Drugs—where its use was racialised and criminalised—to the democratic era when its value was beginning to be reconsidered. Today, we’re in what he terms the ‘21st Decarbonisation Century,’ where the ‘miracle crop’ holds the promise of being used to its full, incredible potential.
Hemp is one of the most widely grown crops globally, with the advantage of being a ‘whole plant, no waste’ resource. Every part of the plant can be utilised and marketed: seeds for oil and food, stalks for textiles and insulation, leaves for animal bedding and medicine, and roots for compost. It’s versatile, able to produce a soft and breathable shirt as well as an airplane tray. The plant is efficient, ready to harvest in 120 days, and it uses less water, herbicides and pesticides than crops like cotton.
Ayanda pointed to what Hemp Fortex is doing in China, where everything from hemp harvesting to garment construction takes place in the country. TexTTan Industries and other industry leaders are taking a “value chain” approach to building the sub-sector in South Africa and Africa—covering raw materials, production, distribution, and sales, producing a range of woven and non-woven textiles.
Hemp has the potential to become an R120 billion industry and create 130,000 jobs across the value chain. Beyond the direct carbon dioxide capture by the plants, there are additional carbon reductions downstream: the lightweight nature of hemp materials requires less energy for transportation and use, and hemp can replace carbon-intensive materials like plastics and certain construction materials.
Additionally, recognising the value of hemp provides an opportunity to reclaim our cultural legacy. As Ayanda noted, “We have criminalised a part of our heritage instead of celebrating it.”
Sustainability in the textile industry and the EU legislation
Kutay Saritosun from Bluesign explains the regulations that will be important for exporters into the European Union
Kutay Saritosun from Bluesign reported on the wave of regulatory changes expected across the European Union in the next few years. The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles was drawn up to align with the European Green Deal, which aims to make the continent climate-neutral by 2050. Kutay highlighted some of the most pertinent components of the ESSCT, including the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, the Digital Product Passport, and measures to prevent greenwashing.
Designers looking to sell in the EU will need to adjust their process to comply with the ESPR, which mandates that products meet standards for durability, reusability, repairability, and recyclability. Additionally, garments will need to contain a specific percentage of recycled fibres and be free from harmful toxic substances. Currently, clothing labels are only required to show the country of origin, fibre content, and care instructions, but by 2030, every item sold in the EU will require a much more detailed DPP. This QR code will enable customers to trace the garment’s supply chain and access certification details, fabric composition, and end-of-life guidance for proper disposal or recycling.
The Green Claims Directive aims to protect the public from greenwashing. Brands and textile manufacturers will need to legally verify their claims through third-party organisations.
Kutay advised African designers and suppliers looking to operate in the EU market to prepare for these upcoming regulations. European brands will need verified data on various aspects, from water consumption to workers’ rights, before they can collaborate.
Conversation between Beauty Mokgwamme, Mohair Empowerment Trust, and Deon Saayman, Cape Wools SA
Ayanda Bam with Beauty Mokgwamme from Mohair Empowerment Trust and Deon Saayman, CEO of Cape Wools SA
While serving as the Managing Director of Mohair South Africa, Deon Saayman appointed Beauty Mokgwamme as head of the Mohair Empowerment Trust before he transitioned to CEO of Cape Wools SA. The two shared the stage at the Africa Textile Talks to discuss South Africa’s natural animal fibre industry.
South Africa is the world’s leading producer of mohair, and the Mohair Empowerment Trust creates opportunities for black commercial farmers in the sector. Beauty brings together her expertise in Angora goats, agriculture, and interpersonal relationships to lead the program. She identifies farmers that show potential, puts together proposals for trustees, and then ensures the success of accepted applicants through training and support.
Beauty likens her work to that of a mother watching her children grow. Farmers who join the MET programme receive Angora goats through an interest-free loan over five years and are provided with essential training, such as ram-selection courses and record-keeping lessons. MET’s success stories are their ‘settled’ projects—farms that have reached commercialisation. Collectively, MET farmers contribute approximately 25,000 kg of mohair annually to the industry.
Deon shared his vision of what an integrated, sustainable, and traceable wool industry in South Africa looks like. The country has 8,000 commercial wool farmers and 45,000 communal farmers. One of Cape Wools SA’s transformation initiatives focuses on helping these communal farmers access the formal market. Through the Sustainable Cape Wool Standard, shearing sheds can achieve certification, enabling them to trade internationally.
Deon also highlighted Cape Wools SA’s digital ecosystem, an online traceable supply chain which will be critical for South Africa to remain a key player in global wool production. Here farmers can register their farms, providing a doorway into premium markets looking for farms that meet industry sustainability standards.
Securing the future of responsible wool production – an H&M and BKB collaboration
Ayanda Bam moderated the panel discussion between Angora goat farmer Simphiwe Fani, founder of Rethink Lab, Lindsay Humphries and H&M’s Caroline Nelson
A 2021 textile conference challenged delegates to ‘Get involved with your farmers. Try to do something, and be honest—you don’t have to be perfect,’ recalls Lindsay Humphries, Founder and CEO of The Rethink Lab, and former sustainability manager at BKB Ltd. Since then, the H&M Group alongside BKB Ltd has made significant strides towards creating an ethical and sustainable wool supply chain in South Africa, partnering to create the Biodiversity Restoration and Regenerative Land Management project.
H&M Group sources most of its wool from South Africa through the open market and is committed to establishing a network of regenerative farms. ‘Every action we take is an effort toward becoming more sustainable,’ said Caroline Nelson, Country Manager and CEO of H&M. “We aim to have 100 percent recycled or responsibly sourced textiles.”
Joining the discussion from the Eastern Cape was Simphiwe Fani, one of the farmers collaborating with the group. Beauty Mokgwamme called him to say that H&M was interested in working with his farm and, impressed that a big brand would come to him directly, he joined one of the 85 farms currently involved with the project.
Farmers receive training in regenerative farming, and Simphiwe reflected that since linking with the programme, he’s seen improvements in his soil and animals, and, as a result, his price points. He is investing his profits in his children’s education, and is currently training one of them as his apprentice, hoping that it will inspire local youth to get involved in agriculture too.
This is the holistic nature with which Caroline is approaching the project, considering South Africa and its unique challenges. She hopes that the systems developed will have a positive impact on not just the land and animals but also the surrounding communities.
“For farmers like Simphiwe this is not new,” said Lindsay. “What is new is reporting on it.” This kind of data collecting and record keeping will become even more crucial when legislation such as that outlined in Kutay’s talk is implemented.
Sappi: From forest to fibre
Krylene Andrew of Sappi describes the process of converting trees into fibre
We are already familiar with Sappi’s paper products, but what is perhaps less widely known is its work with dissolving pulp. Krylene Andrew is the General Manager, Sustainability for Sappi’s dissolving pulp product. The versatile material can be used in a variety of ways, including to make viscose, a binder for tablets, cellulose sponges, washing powders and low-fat products.
Sappi’s Verve division grows eucalyptus trees to produce the wood pulp for these products. It is the leading global supplier for lyocell, the more environmentally considered version of viscose, producing 50% of the world’s supply. Their trees are rain-fed, planted away from waterways to protect stream flow, and use FSC-certified pesticides only when absolutely necessary.
Verve transforms these trees into massive pulp sheets ready to be exported where textile producers will dissolve them and process the mixture into yarn. The journey from tree to pulp sheet produces a waste liquid that is burned to create green energy. To learn more about this process, read about Jackie May’s tour of Sappi’s KwaZulu-Natal plant here.
Weaving stories through native-based textiles
From Kampala Josephine Mukasa brought us stories about bark cloth
Josephine Mukasa, one of the founding partners of the collaborative studio Mekeka Designs, joined us from Uganda. The collective is dedicated to discovering and preserving indigenous textiles and Ugandan cultural arts.
With its fertile land, abundant rainfall, and native fibres, Uganda is well-positioned to develop a successful textile sector. Mekeka Designs produces homeware products using fibres such as banana silk, raffia, cotton, palm leaves, and bark cloth.
One of the most fascinating textiles the collective produces is lubugo, also known as bark cloth, recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In collaboration with the Bukomansimbi Organic Tree Farmers’ Association, Mekeka Designs has launched a tree adoption program that collects bio-data to support the growth and sustainability of the trees that produce this cloth.
Interestingly, as pointed out by attendee Bruno Ngabirano from Skybroad in Cape Town, Ficus natalensis, the tree used to produce bark cloth, is indigenous to various parts of Africa, including Uganda. Its Latin name references the KwaZulu-Natal region, where this species is also found, suggesting potential for bark cloth production in South Africa too.
Rather than felling the trees, the cloth is harvested by ‘skinning’ its outer layer, allowing one tree to be harvested annually for 60 to 80 years. The cloth is then beaten with a mallet, which triples its width. A brown shade is achieved by simply leaving the cloth in the sun for a few days, while cloth covered with river clay for a week becomes stained black.
Mekeka Designs places great importance on working alongside ‘masters of cultural heritage’—groups of elders with knowledge to pass on. In addition to engaging younger generations in the art of creating indigenous fibres, Mekeka Designs is exploring technology to aid in the process of harvesting bark cloth.
The woven words: giving a voice to weaving to reconcile with the living
Expert weaver and textile designer, Johanna Bramble heads into nature when she is seeking materials and inspiration
“Weaving will be the rhythm of life,” says weaver Johanna Bramble, noting how life’s punctuating events, from births to weddings to funerals, will call for special woven pieces. The French-born and West African-based artist shared her work and process, where she creates contemporary pieces using ancient and rich weaving traditions.
When seeking materials and inspiration, Johanna heads to nature. She finds and extracts her materials from the forest herself, from rainfed cotton to raffia to rubber waste left behind by rubber trees. What makes her work unique is the incorporation of modern materials, including glass beads and fibre optics. For Johanna, a connection to the land and people is crucial, even spiritual. It is therefore apt that the traditional Senegalese loom she uses is set on the ground, and that the technique requires a weaver and their assistant to work closely together.
To be involved with the entire process of weaving is important to her too. Johanna does not want to be a supplier but rather strives to have a relationship with the designers she supplies.
Learn more about Johanna and her work here.
Kantamanto: A community of resilience, the model for circularity
Sammy Oteng and Hajara “Nabia” Musah Chambas describe the impact of textile waste and overproduction of fashion on people and the environment in Ghana
Every week 15 million garments arrive in Ghana in bales from the Global North. The local population would need to buy two pieces a week each to keep up with the steady flow of clothing—an unrealistic expectation, even for the wealthiest of countries. It’s estimated that around 40% of each bale is unusable and thus unsellable, destined to pile up in landfills, create pollution, and threaten biodiversity. What’s more, these bales have a significant human impact, as expanded on by Sammy Oteng and Hajara “Nabia” Musah Chambas from The Or Foundation in Ghana.
For Ghanaians, circularity is cultural, with clothes being passed down and cared for rather than discarded. “It’s more than just clothes,” said Nabia. “You build a relationship with them.” As a result, these garments are called ‘Obroni Wawu’ or ‘dead white man’s clothes’—because clothing donated due to a death seems more plausible than the Global North’s tendency to throw away clothes in good condition.
Sammy and Nabia shared some of the work The Or Foundation does around a market town called Kantamanto in Accra. This is the hub where the bales end up, distributed among an ecosystem of retailers, upcyclers, and tailors. Another key player in the ecosystem is the ‘Kayayei.’ The term means ‘a girl who carries,’ but Nabia expands on this translation: “Someone who carries the burden of overconsumption, overproduction, and climate change.” Much like the women mentioned by Nkwo, these women have been displaced from their ancestral lands due to climate change-induced low rainfall, relocating to the south in search of work. Here, they carry between 500kg and 550kg of clothing a day to earn enough to meet their basic needs, distributing the garments throughout the market via ‘head porting.’
Chiropractic research shows that just eight weeks of head porting can cause irreversible damage to the spine. The Or Foundation has launched the Mabilgu Program (the Dagbani word for ‘sisterhood’) and has so far redirected 200 of these women from working at the market. They have been placed in apprenticeships, learning typically male-dominated trades such as plumbing or tiling. “Because if you can carry 500kg a day, what can’t you do?” said Nabia.
The Foundation is currently upgrading the market with an improved transport system that eliminates the need for head porting, among other enhancements. After a fire swept through the market at Christmas 2020, they established the Secondhand Solidarity Fund, raising and distributing over $20,000 in grants to affected individuals. The Foundation then held a fire training program for the market and is improving the fire safety of the site to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
The Or Foundation is working toward a justice-led circular economy in Ghana. Learn about their other projects, which include the No More Fast Fashion Lab and the Speak Volumes campaign, which calls on brands to publish their production volumes, here.
Why I give a damn about indigenous plants and you should too
Rupert Koopman closed the programme highlighting the need to consider nature at every step of the value chain
While climate change is pressing, it’s habitat loss that will have a more immediate impact on South Africa’s species, shared botanist Rupert Koopman. South Africa is the only country that encompasses three biodiversity hotspots—regions that contain species found nowhere else on Earth. Preserving these hotspots is crucial, yet industries like fashion pose a significant threat to the resources they depend on.
The disparity between the “haves” and the “have nots” is clear in environmental conservation: the world’s most biodiverse countries receive the least support while containing some of the most vulnerable populations. Rupert highlighted this troubling irony by showing the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out scheme, showing that many of the last countries to receive vaccines were also the most biodiversity-rich. Despite the preservation of these regions being crucial for mitigating climate change, they are being neglected.
Rupert stated that we need to harness the intersection of botany and fashion to carve a sustainable way forward. If land does need to be cleared for industry, the effects can and should be mitigated by protecting similar or better-quality habitats in that area. “So at least it’s not a net loss for nature,” he said.
Developers do currently need to perform environment assessments, however, because of the government’s limited resources, enforcement is a challenge. Meaningful change will occur when clients and customers demand that nature is considered at every step of the value chain, ensuring that ‘nature gets some of its share,’ as Rupert Koopman said. This pressure will be crucial for change to really be made.
After a day of talks centred around textiles, Rupert’s presentation was last; a reminder that everything we do ultimately is rooted in nature. “It’s important that the boundaries between nature and our activities are blurred,” said Jackie May, wrapping up the Africa Textile Talks for 2024.
“For centuries we’ve kept nature out of our cities: it’s time to bring it back.”
- Photos: The Dollie House
- Sponsors of the event are: Sappi, Cape Wools SA, Mohair South Africa, H&M, Hemporium, Merchants on Long, Pedersen + Lennard, V&A Waterfront, Polo South Africa and Global Organic Textile Standard.
