The project, through funding and capacity-building support to shea pickers, processors and marketers has seen a significant increase in production, packaging as well as market extension.   

This was made known to Mr Irchad Razaaly, the EU Ambassador to Ghana, when he toured Small Scale Enterprises, who were beneficiaries of the project in the Northern Region.  

Mr Razaaly visited shea processing and packaging and cosmetics shops in Tamale to assess their progress and challenges as beneficiaries of the four-year project. 

The beneficiaries of the project shared successes in their products and enterprises, which resulted from the project’s interventions.

 Mr Kumadey Churchil, the Director of Churchwin, a shea and other African commodities production and marketing company, said the company received capacity building in packaging and marketing, which propelled it to sell products on Amazon and Walmart.

He said WACOMP’s intervention, through capacity and network building, had increased the company’s monthly sales capacity from $50 to $15,000 selling online, adding sales increased by about $1000 every month. 

He said, “Prior to the support, we had no brand. We were basically exporting raw shea butter to people with brands, who packaged and retailed. We initiated the process to get onto the global market but got stuck until WACOMP came in with a series of networking sessions that opened up space for us to get onto the market.”

Madam Safia Alhassan, Head of Production at the Pagsum Shea Pickers and Processors Centre at Sagnarigu, said funding support from WACOMP had improved shea production as well as projected the women of the centre to a level worth emulating.

She said the centre had been producing a grade of organic shea butter that consumers wanted, which had widened the customer base both nationally and internationally.

She noted that until the assistance from WACOMP, production volume and quality at the centre were very low, adding that, production had increased from about four tonnes to over 20 tonnes every month. 

Mr Charles Kwame Sakyi, Chief Technical Advisor of the WACOMP, said the project was aimed at adding value to shea butter to meet the quality required in the domestic and international markets, as well as enhancing the competitiveness of the country’s economy.

He said the project was focused on building competitiveness of selected value chains such as cosmetics, personal care products and fruits for exports, strengthening marketing capacity as well as connecting SMEs to financial institutions.

The beneficiaries shared some challenges they were faced with in the business, which included certification difficulties as a result of financial instability and the inability of their products to penetrate the European market. 

The EU Ambassador to Ghana, however, assured them of the EU’s unflinching support to ease the difficulties, commending the SMEs for working hard to project shea and other Ghanaian products to the world. 

Source: Ghana News Agency

Since its inception in 2016, SSI has been instrumental in integrating women collectors and processors into the global market system, establishing more sustainable supply networks, building the technical capacity of GSA members through the dissemination of best practices, and facilitating market linkages. Partners have donated 264 warehouses; trained 213,656 women collectors; provided technical assistance to 2,795 organizations; established 3,939 market linkages; and facilitated the trade of 529,772MT of shea, equivalent to over $311 million.

While the extension will continue to award sub-grants for capacity building of 69,000 women shea collectors across seven producing countries, it will also support 180 existing shea cooperatives to become self-reliant and promote parkland restoration efforts in the seven countries. Additionally, the extension will accelerate GSA’s goal of expanding the utilization of shea in the food and cosmetic sectors through conferences, policy analyses, dissemination, and partnership building. As stated by the President of the GSA, Simballa Sylla, “this extension is not only an indication for the Alliance through all its members to keep delivering results for the growth of the industry.

It also demonstrates the power of collaboration and multistakeholder engagement. I am confident that the targets set in this partnership will move us even further to create the industry of the next decade.”

Source: Global Shea Alliance

Relative to production volumes, every ton of shea kernel produced has a negative carbon footprint of 1.04 tons of CO2. The study, titled: ‘’Shea Value Chain as a Key Pro-poor Carbon Fixing Engine in West Africa’’ evaluated the shea value chain’s contribution to climate mitigation, climate resilience, and socio-economic impact.

The research leveraged the EX-ACT Value Chain tool (EX-ACT VC), developed in 2016 by the FAO. According to the study, increasing the tree population by 7 million trees per year over 14 years raises the CO2 fixed to about 9 million tons per year, leading to an aggregated carbon fixing impact of 180 million tons of CO2e over 20 years. The net present value of this investment is US$ 1.9 billion, resulting in an internal rate of return of over 100% when accounting for both public and private investments.

The report affirmed the shea value chain as a critical income generation activity for women in rural areas. In 2018, every day of work generated US$ 1.9 of value added for women. Overall in the region, the value chain has an annual gross production value of about US$ 284 million and a value-added of US$ 203 million, which is mostly captured at the local production level by Mechanism to store carbon women, collectors, and local processors.

Improvement of collectors’ productivity and shea parkland expansion can increase the gross income per woman collector to US$ 167/ year, or US$ 2.30 value added per day of work, factoring seasonality. President of the Global Shea Alliance, Badiè Marico, in acknowledging the value of shea, observed: ‘’Investing in the shea value chain is the key to ensuring a better world for future generations. While the world is looking for innovative and sustainable solutions to protect our planet, I would like to invite both the public and private sectors to join forces to protect and regenerate our shea parklands.’’ Policy support Economist at the FAO Regional Office for Africa, Louis Bockel (Ph.D.) said: “Functioning partnerships, like FAO-GSA, are drivers to addressing worldwide issues. FAO is proud of contributing to unveiling the shea value chain as a pro-poor carbon fixing engine in West Africa.’’

NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Global Shea Alliance (GSA) is a non-profit industry association with 500 members from 35 countries including women’s groups, brands and retailers, suppliers, and NGOs. Through public-private partnerships, the GSA promotes industry sustainability, quality practices and standards, and demand for shea in food and cosmetics. For more information please visit www.globalshea.com The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO’s goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active healthy lives. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide. For more information, please visit www.fao.org

Source: Global Shea Alliance

Prime determinants of growth

The surge in consumer demand for plant-based ingredients in the cosmetic industry, rise in online sales in remote areas and increase in demand for shea butter in the cosmetic and food industries drive the growth of the global shea butter market. However, limited availability of the product in developed regions and availability of healthier substitutes hinder the market growth. On the other hand, extensive use of shea butter in various industry verticals, the rise in the vegan population, and the rapid growth of the retail sector present new opportunities in the coming years.

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Covid-19 Scenario

• The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the global shea butter market.
• The pandemic disrupted the supply chain across the world, which in turn, led to difficulties for key players and vendors during the supply of goods.
• Trade restrictions imposed by several countries across the globe to curb the outbreak of COVID-19 significantly affected global logistics and transportation, thereby impacting the shea butter market negatively.

The raw & unrefined segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on type, the raw & unrefined segment held the highest market share in 2020, accounting for nearly four-fifths of the global shea butter market, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period, owing to multiple benefits associated with unrefined or cold pressed oils. However, the refined & ultra-refined segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 16.3% from 2021 to 2030. This is because of its usage in the skincare market, as it is said to diminish the appearance of lines and wrinkles as well as aid in softening the skin and lighting the complexion.

The food segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period

Based on application, the food segment accounted for the largest share in 2020, contributing more than four-fifths of the global shea butter market, and is projected to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. This is because shea butter exhibits functional and enhanced nutritional properties. Moreover, the cosmetics segment is expected to portray the largest CAGR of 16.4% from 2021 to 2030, owing to its usage in a broad range of cosmetic products, including skin care products such as creams, soaps, balms, body butter, lip balms, shaving creams, and hair care products.

North America to maintain its dominance by 2030

Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2020, accounting for more than one-third of the global shea butter market. This is due to the rise in the health-conscious population and improved lifestyles in the countries such as the U.S. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 16.4% from 2021 to 2030, owing to a rise in demand for plant-based food products and a growing vegan & flexitarian population.

Source: PR Newswire