Katrina Manson

Wednesday

Katrina Manson

Alternatives to poppy-farming and gun-slinging

I finally get to ask my question of the man who says he knows every statistic in a notoriously data-less country. ‘OK, mister-chief-statistics-officer-for-the-province,’ I say in my best Pashtu, with a little help from my ever-smiling interpreter. ‘Do you know how many businesses there are in Helmand?’ He gives a multi-syllabic answer. I wait keenly for the translation. ‘Yes. None.’ It’s not the best news for Afghanistan’s most conservative and dangerous province. But it might help form part of the answer to why it’s proving so tough to dislodge the Taleban.

Wednesday

Katrina Manson

Ever wondered who’s wearing your cast-offs?

Katrina Manson explores Africa’s extraordinary multimillion-pound trade in secondhand clothing, much of it imported from Britain and the United States Christmas might be a time for cheer and charity but, just as emotionally consuming, it’s also a time for clear-outs. As the annual wander through your wardrobe beckons, consider what happens to cast-offs dispatched to your nearest charity shop. Drop off a wardrobe has-been and it may turn up in the dusty pathways of Benin or the nightclubs of Nairobi. Babies in the world’s poorest countries wear tops emblazoned with ‘Little Miss Posh’; men in ex-war zones strut about in vests carrying urban-chic slogans such as ‘Rebel’; the odd bit of Armani mixes in with bright African prints.