Shea butter is a common moisturising ingredient but AAK’s Jari Alander claims that its efficacy has never been properly tested.

“As one of the biggest buyers of shea kernels from Africa today we thought we would scientifically test the ingredient,” he told CosmeticsDesign.

Unlike active ingredients, emollients are not usually tested for efficacy.

However, according to Alander, the industry is becoming increasingly strict on the data needed to back up efficacy claims, and companies have less freedom to make statements that have not been proven.

Soft shea butter

The company’s research investigated the Sheasoft ingredient, which combines a high melting point with a soft consistency at room temperature and focused on the short term moisturising effect.

Skin care manufacturers need to provide short term effects as daily showering can remove skin lipids and put skin under stress, explained Alander.

AAK’s researchers stimulated daily washing by treating the skin of volunteers with ethanol causing an increase in trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL). They then applied the Sheasoft and compared its moisturising properties to a mineral oil equivalent.

According to Alander, the TEWL rapidly recovered after the application of Sheasoft and after two hours returned to basement levels. After three and four hours the barrier properties of the skin were improved on pre-treatment levels.

With the mineral oil, there was a slower recovery and starting values were not recovered, he said.

AAK also investigated the moisture levels deeper in the skin using a corneometer, finding that the sheasoft led to a consistent increase over four hours. The mineral oil also led to an increase in moisture levels as measured by the corneometer. However, this increase was not as marked as that of the shea butter, according to Alander.

By Katie Bird

Ogwal said the locals were massively depleting and destroying Shea trees for charcoal burning, despite its high economic and health value.

He explained that Shea butter has a good market in the US and the trees should be conserved.

“People are careless, thinking that there is no law restraining them from cutting trees yet there is a tough penalty,” Ogwal told participants at a workshop for district leaders at Lira Hotel on Wednesday.

He stressed that any person who fails or refuses to comply with an environmental restoration order commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment not exceeding 12 months or a fine of between sh120,000 and sh12m or both.

Ogwal advised the local councils to report people who destroy the environment so that immediate action can be taken.

Joseph Ongol, the district environment officer, explained that 60 litres of oil can be got from a single Shea tree. The trees grow mainly in northern Uganda.

By Patrick Okino

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He said chieftaincy and other squabbles in the North continue to serve as a stigma derailing the development process and they should be stopped immediately to attract more investments to the area to arrest poverty.

Vice President Mahama said: “Let us make the North as peaceful as possible to ensure that investors are attracted to give our youth employment.

“Our areas would never develop if we continue to fight each other instead of putting our heads together to see how we can address the problems facing us as Northerners.”

He, therefore, directed the Northern Regional Police Command to arrest any person or group who flouts the laws of the land and let them face the full rigours of the law, irrespective of their political affiliation.

On the sheanut processing plant, Vice President Mahama said the gesture was in fulfilment of the NDC’s campaign promise in 2008 to set up a sheabutter factory for the north to address poverty.

He said the project, which is expected to be in operational in six months, already had a marketing agreement with the Produce Buying Company Limited (PBC) in Ghana and a Brazilian Producer to ensure that the products from the factory did not go to waste.

Vice President Mahama said the project was part of the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) initiative and gave the assurance that SADA would be operational in the first quarter of 2010 and would be replicated in all the Savanna regions of the country.

Vice President Mahama said if the sheanut industry was used as a vehicle of income generation it would be the surest way of addressing poverty, especially among women in the North.

He appealed to the people to explore the possibility of planting sheanut trees on commercial basis for their benefit and that of the nation and stressed the need for them to also adopt measures to ensure that they picked all the sheanuts from the bush.

He said the project would set up a water treatment plant at the Volta River basin for use and would also consider supplying the people of Buipe with good drinking water and appealed to the chiefs and people of the area to give the project the necessary support to achieve its targeted objectives.

He said under SADA, other projects to be executed included the Northern Ghana Groundnuts Project (NGGP) for the processing of groundnuts oil for export to Europe.

A group from India was also conducting feasibility studies towards setting up a jute factory for the mass production of sacks for export to neighbouring countries, he said, while a sugar cane factory would be set up in Makango in the East Gonja District to process ethanol for export.

Market for the ethanol is assured in Sweden for the total produce from the 25 000 hectare sugar cane plantation.

Mr. Lius Fernando Seirra, the Brazilian Ambassador to Ghana, assured his country’s preparedness to assist Ghana in any economic venture towards the economic emancipation of its people to strengthen the bilateral relationship.

Mr. Stephen Sumani Nayina, Northern Regional Minister, said the North was endowed with a lot of economic trees, including the sheanut, but they could not be harnessed because of the lack of capital.

Mr. Nayina appealed to PBC and the COCOBOD to give attention to the shea industry as was given to cocoa and coffee to ensure that those working with shea products benefit from it to reduce poverty in the North.

He commended the people of the West and Central Gonja Districts for banning the burning of charcoal and appealed to them to ensure that the laws were enforced so that the sheanut trees would be safe.

Mr. Anthony Osei Boakye, Managing Director of PBC, in a speech read on his behalf, said during the year under review PBC purchased 120,895 bags of sheanut for export and gave the assurance that the Buipe Factory when completed, would purchase sheanuts directly from the people for processing.

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Ghana exports about 45,000 metric tonnes of raw shea-nut annually, but not even a tonne was exported in the last two years due to a shift in demand on the international market from raw to processed shea-nut.

A baseline data analysis report released by the Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition (GTLC) last week in Accra contained this information with confirmation that a total of 8,000 metric tonnes of raw shea-nuts purchased in the 2007/2008 crop season for export by the Produce Buying Company still lies at the warehouse in Tema without any prospects for disposal.

Coordinator of GTLC, Ibrahim Akalbila, noted on presenting the findings of the report that the development on the international market does not augur well for the traditional value addition chain of the crop.

He however said all was not lost, because feasible options are to process the nuts before exports and to deepen the domestic industry through increased consumption of the nut shea nut when processed. The price fluctuates depending on market conditions. Unlike Cocoa, which is traded on the futures market at the international level and guarantees prices for cocoa farmers, the market of shea nut is not regulated in any way.

Consequently, Mr. Akalbila observed that the development of the domestic industry can play a leading role in guaranteeing prices for farmers and providing competition for international demand.

Shea’s usefulness cuts across diverse industries worldwide, including the detergents, catering and pharmaceuticals industries. The major challenge is for COCOBOD – the industry regulator – to dedicate adequate attention to promoting the interest of shea-nut – for instance, as it does in promoting cocoa.

The nut is grown wild in the three Northern regions of the country. It takes between 25 and 30 years for the trees to begin bearing fruit, but the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has come up with varieties that can begin fruiting between six and ten years.

Launching the report, the Country Manger of Oxfam BV, Justine Morgan, called on government to support the women, who walk long distances to pick the fruit from the wild, with tools, equipment and protective attire.

While Produce Buying Company (PBC) has indicated interest in processing the nuts, he urged government to ensure that PBC and other private enterprises that will begin processing shea nut include the women in their plans.

Source: Business & Financial Times

Nelly Ndaguba, on her first trip to India, is trying to garner attention to her bottles of shea butter, which is used as a natural moisturizer. It is made from the nuts of the shea tree, and is often used in luxury cosmetics.

“It is really good for the skin,” she said, opening the lid of a plastic bottle and rubbing some of the yellowish butter on the skin of a customer. “If you put it in your hair, it will make it bouncy,” she said.

There was curiosity among Indian visitors to talk to the Nigerian businesswoman, who was attired in traditional clothes. Thursday was the first day the fair was opened to the general public.

Ndaguba said she was one of the early birds among the delegation to reach India. “Some of our visas got delayed, while others were not able to get flight bookings,” she said.

According to S.M. Abuta, a market researcher at NEPC, the major problem was in getting airline seats. With no direct flights between India and Nigeria, they had to book seats on Middle Eastern airlines. “Due to the Haj season, most of the planes were full,” he said.

In the next stall, an official was setting up tinned bottles of pure cocoa powder. While in another stall down the lane, Christian O. Ezeokafor had set up samples of minerals from manganese to topaz on his shelves.

“We want to export to India, but we also want investment in mines. We have a lot of incentive from the government, which is keen to increase non-oil exports,” said Ezeokafor, who already has got some serious business enquiries.

“China is a our main market, but I have come here to see if I can get some good Indian partners.”

“They like our approach,” Senyo Kpelly of Sekaf Ghana said of the buyers’ interest. “We have our own improved method of processing for the butter. We’ve seen things getting better, a lot of repeat customers.”

Kpelly’s experience is just one reflection of how well the shea industry is doing. As the shea nut trading season starts, industry insiders agree that the industry is in good shape.

Still, the shea industry is not without its challenges. Industry observers predict a smaller harvest this year, perhaps one third lower than last year’s crop.

Interest last year led some to buy when the price was high with hopes that it would go even higher. But it did not – especially with the global downturn – and they are stuck holding nuts, sources said. The problem they face now, one industry expert said, was that the nuts’ chemical composition has degraded while they’ve been sitting in warehouses, making them much less attractive to buyers.

At the village level, the primary challenge is ensuring consistent quality of shea butter produced by women using traditional methods, Lovett said. But, he noted, the quality of shea nuts has been increasing markedly after Trade Hub training workshops on quality issues. Increasingly exporters of handcrafted butter are finding market for reliable quality shea butter at bulk quantities in both the edible and cosmetic market at competitive prices. Consumer interest in shea butter in natural cosmetics and new market opportunities for shea butter’s use as a cocoa-butter equivalent make the industry’s overall outlook very positive, Lovett said.

“Despite the economic downturn last year, consumers continued to increase their purchases of natural cosmetics,” Lovett said. “They recognize what people in West Africa have known for generations upon generations – how well shea butter protects and nourishes the skin.”

In October, the Trade Hub helped four West African shea butter exporters establish contacts with more than 200 buyers in the U.S. who visited the Trade Hub-sponsored booth at the Cosmetic Chemists Suppliers’ Day in Long Beach, California.

The Trade Hub’s Africa Shea brand will build on the positive trends, and will figure highly in international events over coming months, he added.

“Africa Shea is about quality and authenticity,” he said. “Shea butter from Africa is getting better and better and it comes with a long history that is culturally significant. Africa Shea is about promoting those elements so that the economic benefits are truly felt in villages across West Africa and livelihoods improve.”

Working at every level of the value chain – from women’s groups producing butter traditionally in villages to traders buying raw shea nuts to mechanical processors refining butter for export to major international buyers and retailers – the Trade Hub’s work across the region has helped shea exporters become more competitive.

The result is more jobs and higher incomes over the past three years. In Ghana alone, a 2006 study estimated that 600,000 rural women earn income from collecting shea nuts for sale and processing others into shea butter.

•    In Nigeria, the shea industry is starting to expand. The Trade Hub’s financing shea initiative helped spur new facilities for shea exporters. Appraisals of Nigerian shea sourcing strategies are also being conducted by at least three major international buyers.

•    In Mali, shea nut quality has markedly improved. Laboratory scientists working for international buyers have noted the improvements, sources said.

•    In Benin, a shea butter-producing company took its products to buyers at a U.S. international trade show for the first time.

•    In Ghana, as many as seven processing facilities now transform shea nuts into shea butter. Their collective capacity is about 70,000 tons of shea nuts annually.

Next March, the Trade Hub will organize Shea 2010 in Bamako, Mali, the third edition of the international conference that brings industry stakeholders together to discuss the opportunities and constraints. Click here to see the latest on plans for the conference and opportunities to sponsor and participate!

“The Trade Hub sees opportunities for further efficiency and expansion of markets for shea,” said Trade Hub Director Vanessa Adams. “Shea 2010 will be the culminating event for the shea season with people across the industry gathering to improve the value chain.”

“The industry has been growing steadily over the last decade,” said Dr. Peter Lovett, the Trade Hub’s Shea Sector Expert. “More and more of these exports are as valued-added product as we’ve seen improvements at every level.”

Estimating the number of tons exported is difficult, but figures from the Port of Tema in Ghana showed about 80,000 tons of raw shea kernels officially went through the port in 2008 and about 4,000 tons of processed butter. However, industry insiders said the numbers were probably higher. Adding the volumes that left ports in Abidjan, Conakry, Lagos and Lome probably means that as many 350,000 tons of raw shea nuts were exported in 2008, and perhaps 30,000 tons of butter.

“The industry guards its numbers pretty closely,” Lovett said. “But the industry is evolving and with new entrants, we’re seeing a more sophisticated and more modern business emerge.”

Lovett said about one third of all exports are being extracted within the region, not only with machines in factories but, increasingly, by the handcrafted methods of women’s groups as they link into the international shea butter market.

“The women’s groups’ competitiveness has improved,” Lovett said. “And international demand continues to steadily grow.”

Peter Stedman, a shea butter buyer for The Body Shop, a leading international retailer of natural cosmetics, agreed. For over 15 years, The Body Shop has worked with the Tungteiya Women’s Association in Northern Ghana, using the shea butter the women make in its popular line of products. Starting with its first annual purchase of five tons in 1994, the company now buys over 250 tons from members of the association each year.

“Alternative trade and ethical trade, as general trends, have shown themselves to be more resilient overall and less susceptible to the economic downturn,” Stedman said. “People aren’t willing to compromise on ethics and quality and naturalness. We’re still in a good position.”

Still, the shea industry is not without its challenges. Industry observers predict a smaller harvest this year, perhaps one third lower than last year’s crop.

Interest last year led some to buy when the price was high with hopes that it would go even higher. But it did not – especially with the global downturn – and they are stuck holding nuts, sources said. The problem they face now, one industry expert said, was that the nuts’ chemical composition has degraded while they’ve been sitting in warehouses, making them much less attractive to buyers.

At the village level, the primary challenge is ensuring consistent quality of shea butter produced by women using traditional methods, Lovett said. But, he noted, the quality of shea nuts has been increasing markedly after Trade Hub training workshops on quality issues. Increasingly exporters of handcrafted butter are finding market for reliable quality shea butter at bulk quantities in both the edible and cosmetic market at competitive prices. Consumer interest in shea butter in natural cosmetics and new market opportunities for shea butter’s use as a cocoa-butter equivalent make the industry’s overall outlook very positive, Lovett said.

“Despite the economic downturn last year, consumers continued to increase their purchases of natural cosmetics,” Lovett said. “They recognize what people in West Africa have known for generations upon generations – how well shea butter protects and nourishes the skin.”

In October, the Trade Hub helped four West African shea butter exporters establish contacts with more than 200 buyers in the U.S. who visited the Trade Hub-sponsored booth at the Cosmetic Chemists Suppliers’ Day in Long Beach, California.

The Trade Hub’s Africa Shea brand will build on the positive trends, and will figure highly in international events over coming months, he added.

“Africa Shea is about quality and authenticity,” he said. “Shea butter from Africa is getting better and better and it comes with a long history that is culturally significant. Africa Shea is about promoting those elements so that the economic benefits are truly felt in villages across West Africa and livelihoods improve.”

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By Joe Lamport

She pointed out that she had worked through her Alaafia Kwara in the past six years to improve the capacity of rural women in Kwara State and that this training was a giant step in the direction which she aspired for shea butter and other natural produce from Kwara State.
She encouraged participants at the workshop to acquire as much knowledge as possible from the programme identifying it as one sure way of lifting their individual economies and that of the state.
The four day workshop is a  joint initiative of the wife of the Governor of Kwara State and the Kwara State Ministry of Industry Solid Minerals.

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The occasion was the launch of a baseline data analysis commissioned by the Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition (GTLC) to foster the unleashing of the allowed-to-rot potential of the Shea industry.

The anger of the unnamed participant was stoked by Ibrahim Akalbila, Coordinator of the Coalition, who painstakingly brought to light what decades of neglect had done to the shea potential and those that depend on it most rural women of northern Ghana.

The tree crop in question grows in the wilds of Western and Eastern Africa and found in sheer abundance in the Savannah woodlands of Northern Ghana. “It is said to abound in thirty eight districts in the three regions of the north.

The nuts of the tree are full of money – vegetable fat. This cholesterol- free fat is an edible one and has been used in many Ghanaian dishes since creation. It is said to be responsible for why chocolate from many parts of the world, except Ghana, feels soft and melts easily in the mouth.

It is a good protector of the human skin against the harmatan in particular. The cosmetic industry globally has also found a good ingredient in it. As such, its demand on the international market, although not as much as cocoa, is on the increase.

Things would have been even better, says the GTLC, if the government of Ghana had over the years admitted that cocoa cannot do it all alone, and had invested some resources into selling the Shea industry. In the last ten years, says Ibrahim Akalbila, not a pesewa has gone to the Cocoa Research Institute, a body that oversees research into other tree crops, for research on the Shea tree.

Ghana Cocobod is also in charge of the Shea industry but “Cocobod’s role in the research and development of the Shea tree has not been consistent over the years.” This, according to Ibrahim Akalbila, has not helped to bring the needed attention to the industry. A separate body, he believes, is needed for the Shea industry. But the challenge, here too, is how the body will be funded. As matters stand now, the state does not earn much from Shea to support a regulatory body for it. The money may have to come from somewhere.

Meanwhile, the future of the raw material base is not certain. The Shea tree is said to take about 25 to 30 years to mature and bear fruit in the wild whilst an experimental plantation started in 1985 is yet to see its first nut.

“Protection of the Shea plant in the wild is not guaranteed as long as competing events such as bio-fuel plantations, charcoal production provide faster access to money for land owners (chiefs) and communities.”

Certain cultural beliefs in some growing areas do not help matters either. It is for instance believed by some that one cannot grow a Shea tree and live to eat its fruit. So why plant one?

Pickers of the nuts also believe that the further they go into the Savannah the better nuts they get. So the idea of domesticating the tree crop, which the GTLC wants to see happen, is something the culturally disposed pickers would not broach. So if the talks of establishing processing factories making the rounds are to stand, then the need to address the shortfall in the raw material base stands.

Currently, Ghana is estimated to produce 130,000? metric tonnes (mt) of Shea nuts annually, 70,000 mt of which is used locally whilst 60,000 mt is exported. About 45,000 mt is exported as raw nuts and 15,000 mt as butter. “At a rate of 50,000 mt per year that may expand to 150,000 mt when two other factories are established in the Upper East and West Regions, the proposed factories will be absorbing a chunk of the quantity that is already produced,” says the study report.

To satisfy both local and international demand for the raw material and/ or its products, GTLC, through the baseline report puts forwards two solutions.

The first is a common West Africa agreement that would bring nuts to the factories in Ghana for processing into butter for the sub-regional market and others. “This will ensure consistent supply of nuts all year round and drive a common marketing strategy for West Africa Shea.”

The second is to “increase the stock of Shea in Ghana in the next 5-10 years by funding enhanced research and undertaking some institutional restructuring to improve management of existing trees and growing more trees. The GTLC concept of domestication that brings benefit to communities is the method proposed here for expansion of new plantations.”

Research, the GTLC Coordinator believes, should be able to come out with varieties with far shorter gestation periods and improved quality. “The concept of domestication by bringing plantations near to homes on family farms is feasible and is dependent on progress in research to reduce the gestation period of the tree.”

The industrialization of the Shea industry has another challenge – sustaining the livelihood of the tireless but longsuffering women pickers in the value chain. Even now, the women feel cheated by unscrupulous middlemen who buy the nuts from them at alarmingly low prices.

“Pickers and processors have the conviction that when ownership systems are defined clearly; if there was unity among Shea pickers, if the plant was domesticated, if pickers and processors were provided with equipment, if laws are enacted to punish offenders, sensitization and educational campaigns are carried out effectively, transportation facilities readily available for carting nuts back home, most, if not all, of the challenges the sector faces would be solved. GTLC agrees with the above convictions.”

By Basiru Adam

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PBC was the market leader prior to 1989 season when the cocoa sector reforms brought PBC’s participation in sheanut operation to a halt.

Speaking at a short ceremony in Accra, yesterday, the board chairman of PBC , Nana Timothy Aye Kusi, said that this geared the company on to mobilise required resources and to sign a memorandum of understanding with Cocoa Marketing Company Limited of Ghana Cocoa Board to undertake the external sales on behalf of PBC.

He indicated that for proximity to raw materials, the PBC Shea Limited will be sited at Buipe in the Northern Region.

Negotiations, he said, are far advanced with the chief and elders of Buipe to acquire a 16- acre land near the Volta River.

Nana Kusi disclosed that PBC Limited will sell the raw materials to PBC Shea Limited to be processed initially into Shea butter and into oils and other derivatives.

He added that processing of sheanut into butter and oil will add value to the nut in addition to generating employment.

“It is worth noting that the project falls within the government’s plan to develop the Savanna areas of this country’,'he said.

Nana Kusi further stated that the company shall uphold its commitment to be the leader in the participation of the internal marketing of cocoa and sheanut and ensure that farmers are well catered for in addition to stakeholders getting maximum returns for their investment.

Source: ISD

The shea industry is projected to gross nearly 500 million dollars for the 20 African countries that subsist on this produce in the next five years; albeit only a few of these West African nations are serious contenders. These are Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali.

A study by the West African Trade Hub (WATH), a United States Government-funded development project that promotes trade in the sub-region, establishes that shea exports’ value as of 2008 was 100 million dollars. But this figure is expected to jump dramatically to half a billion dollars in the next five years when the expected investments in the sector begin to yield results.

Dr Peter Lovett, a shea expert, said in a paper that the value of the produce has increased in Ghana with the current average price estimated at 400 dollars per ton. In the past, only 50,000 tons of shea nuts at an average price of 150 dollars per ton were exported, “bringing in less than 10 million dollars to the region”, he said.

A blast from the past makes one cringe at the fact that small scale shea farmers and producers could become Ghana’s newest “nouveau riche” and the idea sounds like a wild card. It is hard to imagine this product, which is native to rural African women in the savannah zone, becoming the latest “red letter” to Ghana’s economic development when it has become has been neglected for years.

It is hard to imagine that although shea is regarded as a big money grosser, Ghanaian authorities have allowed it to be in the lull for the past nine years without a yawn from even the Produce Buying Company, which used to market the product. The answer may well lie in a number of inter-related factors such as ignorance, the lack of well-thought policy, the lack of clarity from the directing class, and the lack of marketing facilities.

Take the issue of ignorance. Many Ghanaians have little or no knowledge about the economic value of shea besides a limited knowledge about its use for personal care. Interestingly, WATH has established that increased trade in bulk shea nuts and butter can help “improve rural livelihoods, especially for African women, who pick and hand process shea nuts and butter” noting that optimizing the global value chain of the produce will help in eliminating poverty in the sub-region. Somehow, many Ghanaians took it for granted.

Shea butter is one of the cheapest products on the Ghanaian market so everybody takes it for granted, save when the harmattan beckons. It is also used on new born babies, in line with myths that shea will help to relieve them of stress from the unknown world they came from. Whatsoever the case, shea is a treasure. In the instance of personal care, shea butter is used differently as a moisturizer, as soap with high “saponifiable” content, and in skin and hair care cosmetics as lotion and cream.

In the gourmet (catering) industry, shea is used as edible fat which is an equivalence of cocoa butter in the making of chocolates, and as an additive to confectionary products, biscuits and pastries in the form of shea stearin or vegetable fat. Alander (2002) demonstrates that medically, shea can be used as a pharmaceutical product for the treatment of eczema, arthritis and high cholesterol. Equally, shea has regenerative properties that are used to soothe and reduce inflammation, stretch marks and wrinkles. Shea also has antioxidants, carotenoids and flavonoids and as a result, it is often seen as the preferred ingredient in preparations made for the cosmetic industry Even so, the industry faces lots of difficulties. Despite its tendency to provide all-year-round employment for the projected three million rural women involved in shea harvesting, the sector is struggling with some challenges.

The challenges include poor processing and the difficulty in domesticating the shea crop, which for now remains largely a wild crop and as a result just about half of the expected produce are harvested. Even with this shea trees were being destroyed for charcoal production. Currently sheanut picking and post-harvesting handling are done in a rudimentary form, thus hindering the effectiveness of the sector to transform from small industrial processing into large industrial processing that will rake in the millions of dollars at stake.

Madam Araba Abu, a spokeswoman for the Sunbawiera Sheanuts and Sheabutter Producers Association in the Upper West Region, recently urged the government not to renege in its commitment to establish an authority to oversee the regulation of the shea industry. She appealed to the government to supply members with wellington boots, gloves and tarpaulins to facilitate their work. Similarly, Alhaji Imoru Ayittey, Chairman of the Association in a recent interview with the GNA said sheanut and sheabutter producers remained poor and vulnerable, hence the need for the government to give the industry serious attention.

On the other hand, modest efforts have been made in this regard with diversification in the area of shea butter consolidation, refining and fractionation. According to the WATH, three big companies buy 90 per cent of the sub-region’s nuts. It is not all gloom though. There are some success stories, instigated mostly by WATH, which is working towards increasing exports of regional products to stimulate job creation. Using the AGOA platform, the Hub has helped to produce both bulk shea butter and finished shea cosmetics in line with international quality standards.

Most of these products are packaged and shipped to meet rigorous demands of the US cosmetic market. Through WATH’s interventions, two Ghanaian entrepreneurs, Madam Comfort Adjahoe of Ele Agbe Company and Gladys Commey of All Pure Nature Company currently fill orders for more than 12, 000 shea soaps and 4, 000 creams to US markets.

According to WATH, “in addition to boosting their revenues, the order will also provide work and investment opportunities for approximately 120 women in rural northern Ghana” which supplies the shea butter to the two businesses: “Their relationship with Ten Thousand Villages (a U.S.-based fair trade retail chain that is making forays into the cosmetic market) began in 2006, when it participated in a handcrafts buying trip organized by the Hub”. Likewise, Madam Eugenia Akuete, founder of Naasakle, produces 10 tons of butter a month and ships it directly to clients in Chicago through the efforts of the Hub. In neighbouring Benin, Gilles Adamon, owner of Natura Sarl and his colleague Victor Lulla, produce 200, 000 bars of shea butter soap per month. The scantiness of state policy on the shea trade is also being tackled, though tougher actions are required. Speaking at the 2009 Shea conference held in Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe capital, earlier in the year, Vice-President John Mahama announced that government was overhauling the industry and transform it into a priority one to enable it to tap into the fast expanding global shea trade.

The shift, he examined, was in recognition of the crucial role that the shea crop plays in the socio-economic development of the savannah area of the country and hinted at efforts to place it on the same trajectory as cocoa. Vice-President Mahama rationalises government’s renewed interest in the shea industry as follows:

“The understanding of government with these commitments is to make the shea industry the major driving force in the accelerated development of the savannah areas of Ghana.” Among the steps the Vice-President outlined would be taken by the government was to provide farmers with protective clothing to guard against snake and insect bites for the gathering of the wild crop as efforts were being made to domesticate it. Interestingly, the PBC is making amends too.

The company recently signed an agreement with Sysgate Limited of Brazil towards the establishment of shea nut processing plant to be sited on a 6.4 hectare at Buipe in the for the export of shea butter to Brazil. Nana Aye Kusi, Chairman of the new Board of Directors of the PBC, has also announced the creation of a separate entity, PBC Shea Limited, a 10-million dollar subsidiary of the parent company charged with overseeing the purchasing, processing and marketing of shea nut in commercial quantities. It is projected that the annual income to be raked in from this facility will slightly be in the region of 40 million dollars per annum.

The establishment of this plant would enable the joint PBC/Sysgate consortium to process between 40 to 100,000 tonnes of nuts yearly, thus helping increase by more than half the percentage of shea nuts harvested annually in Ghana which now stand at about 50 per cent. But other key issues that might help to spur the growth of the industry remains outstanding. For instance government has yet to appoint a Shea Development Board to provide leadership that is required for the transformation of the industry.

An essence of this feature is to remind the Mills Administration of the need to quickly put in place the structures that will help facilitate the growth of the shea industry and make it a fulcrum for reducing poverty among women in the three northern regions of Ghana and the contiguous savannah belt of the Volta and Brong-Ahafo Regions. A

GNA feature by Nathaniel Glover-Meni