91.5 Percent Of Kenyan Household Use Mitumba Clothes

A report released by the Institute of Economic Affairs in conjunction with the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya showed that 91.5 percent of Kenyan households bought secondhand clothes, also known as Mitumba in the year 2019.

The increase in the demand for secondhand clothes among Kenyans led to an increase in the volume of secondhand clothes imported in Kenya in 2019. The country imported 185,000 tonnes of Mitumba, an equivalent of 8,000 containers.

“We cannot run away from mitumba. We cannot say that mitumba is killing the local sector. It is like chopping off your nose to spank your face. The value of mitumba cannot be undermined,” said Mr. Kwame Owino from the Institute of Economic Affairs.

According to the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya Chairperson, Rev. Teresiah Njenga, the report paints a clear picture of the contribution of the sector to the economy and illustrates that both the textile industry and second-hand clothes and footwear sectors can co-exist in Kenya.

“Based on the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Manpower Survey, the mitumba industry employs an estimated 10 percent of the extended labor force, which translates to at least 2 million people,” she said.

“In terms of taxes, the sector paid 12 billion shillings in 2019 to the exchequer. This is a significant contribution to the economy in jobs and taxes, and this goes to show that this sector can no longer be ignored and needs order and policies to govern it,” she added.

The typical income earner in Kenya spends about 40 percent of monthly earnings to procure food alone. The rest of
the available income is spent on shelter, transportation, education, health, and other needs.

2.5 percent of private consumption in Kenya was spent on clothing and footwear for the year 2019. This spending amounts to 197.5 billion shillings which comes to an average of 4,150 shillings per person per year for all purchases of second-hand garments, new clothes, and footwear.

Compared to the rest of the middle-income countries, Kenyan consumers spend much less on clothes and footwear. An insight that comes from this is that imports of secondhand clothes constitute about 1 percent of all imports’ monetary value while it accounts for 2.5 percent of all private spending.

67.8 percent of Kenyan households in urban areas spent 1000 shillings and below, while the corresponding figure for rural dwellers was 79.2 percent. This finding is consistent with the evidence that rural dwellers have lower incomes and are more interested in affordable clothing and footwear.

READ: Kenya Imported 185,000 Tonnes Of Mitumba In 2019