For centuries African women have been using shea butter for everyday use. The shea industry now exists in 19 countries throughout Africa. Ghana is now a leading producer of shea butter for an estimated amount of three million rural women. Not only is Ghana one of the biggest producers and exporters of shea butter in West Africa, but it is also the main source of income for women. This industry provides seasonal and permanent jobs in production, processing, and distribution for women.

 

 

 

 

It is important to recognize why Ghana’s employment and economy is not as great as it used to be. Ghana is a country in West Africa, located on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. It gained its independence in 1957 from Great Britain and had a great economy due to being filled with natural resources and agriculture, which is the basis of the country’s economy. During the time of their independence, President Kwame Nkrumah sought to expand Ghana’s success by creating an industrial-agricultural industry, relying heavily on cocoa.

 

 

 

Nkrumah ended up taking out loans to fund his plan, but unfortunately, the price of cocoa fell, destroying the stability of the economy. This ended with the economy crumbling in the 1960’s, becoming almost bankrupt. Around that same time, the combination of so many coups and years of intolerant military rule left Ghana in a position of uncertainty.

 

 

Since then, Ghana has been caught in a cycle of debt, weak currency, and poor employment. These constraints have made it difficult to achieve the success that Ghana once had. In 1983, Ghana faced further issues. Food production was affected by one of the most terrible droughts in Ghana’s history, which resulted in a mass migration to surrounding countries for better conditions and opportunities. The destruction of their crops had led to a demand for food imports in Ghana as agriculture was deprived and jobs were harder to obtain. Since then, policies have been in the works for Ghana to generate substantial growth.  

 

 

Ghana has undergone many challenges since the fall of their economy in the 1960’s. Poverty has lead Ghana from being economically prosperous to fragile. While employment is difficult to find for anyone, employment tends to be divided by gender.

While men mostly work in agriculture, women form groups or cooperatives in the shea butter industry to access better opportunities.

 

In Ghana, the shea nut tree is found in the savannah, covering almost the entire area of Northern Ghana. The shea nut tree is an economic crop and its role in food production, foreign exchange earnings, and a source of income pays millions of Ghanaian women. In Ghana, its production is restricted to three regions: The Upper West, Upper East, and Northern Regions. The processing of shea butter is traditionally conducted by women and most often is sold for local use, either as cooking oil or as a skin moisturizer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In response to making sure women earn a stable living, Miles J. Davis, the founder of Superior Shea, says his “job is to seek out women to help him make the shea.” Superior Shea is produced by a collective of 100 women in Tamale, Ghana.

 

In order to get the shea butter we all know, the women need to go through a dangerous process. From the very beginning, the women have to walk miles with baskets on their heads to get to where the Karite (shea) trees are. This already makes the women tired and their backs ache. During the harvesting process, women have to be aware of poisonous snakes and other dangers. This puts women "in life-threatening situations," Davis said. 

 

 

Davis said women “deserve to be paid way more than they do because they get cheated from the market.” He added how women work all day and night due to the process of making shea being incredibly tedious.

 

 

Davis said since women “make $1 a day (5 cedis) by working and selling their shea under government control”  his mission for Superior Shea is to improve the lives of women and their incomes because they are continuously cheated by the market. 

 

 

After bringing samples of shea butter back to the US, Davis sold out in one week. He called his partner to order 100kg of Shea Butter and realized that he had a business that was about to take off. 

 

 

By creating a cooperative, the money earned would go towards these families directly and their kid's education and health services.

 

 

“Some of the world’s best shea butter is produced in the Upper West Region of Ghana,” he says. “I want to work with the people there so they can continue making it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ilana Fitzpatrick, a student at Elon University studying Political Science, recently spent all of January in Ghana. It was in Ghana where Fitzpatrick was able to learn about the history and culture while meeting many women villagers who work in the shea industry.

 

 

During her experience, Fitzpatrick noticed that the work women provide is “labor intensive,” especially since they work long hours and hard to make a steady income. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shea butter is mostly used for beauty products, like moisturizers from companies such as L’Oreal, L’Occitane, The Body Shop, and Lush. Fitzpatrick thinks “shea is a great product, but I would much rather get this product from someone who has made it, directly from them, than from a commercialized company. As a female, I want these women to feel empowered by the work they provide.”

 

Fitzpatrick bought shea butter from a village and says "it is much better raw" than what she finds in big-name products, because "you actually get to feel the richness when it is not overpowered by the chemicals or unneeded ingredients." 

 

“I want to look into helping these poorer villages because I continuously felt this type of love and passion when I was in Ghana,” Fitzpatrick says. “The Ghanaian people treated me and the rest of my class with a lot of respect and greeted me as their one of their own relatives." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mussa Idris, a professor of Anthropology at Elon University, has traveled to Ghana and spent some time in the Mognori Village, located in the Northern Region. The village relies heavily on the shea butter industry and "is an agriculture and ecotourism village," Idris said.   It was there where he was “able to see the empowerment” in which women have gained from working as a cooperative.  

 

 

The women producing shea butter in Mognori put the final product in a calabash container. These women sell their shea in these containers for "3 US dollars in the international market, but it would cost more than 30 US dollars," Idris said. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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These women "are aware" that when the government is in charge of their earnings, "they get paid little to nothing," Idris said. That is why when companies like Superior Shea and non-profits provide these women with more jobs and better incomes, they most likely never pass up the opportunity. 

 

 

Ghana still has one of the strongest economies in Africa. There’s a lot of potential for growth, in terms of sustainability through business, improved infrastructure, and empowerment.