Making shea butter, part 2

Long processed for its oil, which is still used as a key ingredient in local cooking and for various medicinal purposes, shea butter has in recent years become a sought-after ingredient for up-market soaps, lotions and cosmetics. The CMA started their project about 15 years ago in hopes of helping women find a piece of this expanding market.

“All of these women were trained by their parents to make shea butter,” Georgina says. “But because they had no money and no market, they would sit idle all day at home. That’s why we started this project.”

With a loan from a German NGO and additional assistance from the Japan International Coooperation Agency (JICA) (Japan's equivalent to the Peace Corps), they were able to construct the few necessary buildings and purchase the grinding and milling machinery. At the project’s two sites, nearly 50 women work in “trust teams” of five.

The CMA, which operates as a kind of business manager, keeps the books and ostensibly helps find markets for the products. Any profits go back to the women. From this they are expected to replenish the site’s stores of water, firewood and raw nuts. A small portion is also set aside for machinery maintenance.

“They share equally,” Georgina says. “The harder the group of five works, the more money they can make. But only when there’s a market.”

For a recent order of two tons, each of the three trust groups involved in fulfilling the order earned an average of about 28 cedis (about US$28), or a little more than US$5 per woman.

But today, despite a brief flirtation from the Body Shop, buyers have not materialized and Georgina admits that they are frustrated by a lack of knowledge about how to market the product or reach new customers.

“It has changed their lives,” Georgina says of the project. “They could not have two square meals before and now they can eat. But it’s not enough, not like we expected. Our objective is a total change for their lives.”

After saying goodbye, the women so appreciative that we took the time to visit, and we so appreciative that they permitted us to do so, they go back to work. We sit silently in the taxi on the way to the bus station, each of us lost in thoughts about possibilities.

(Picture: Some of the women mixing the ground shea nuts with water)