Covid pandemic have a devastating impact on agriculture. The nuts from the Africa shea tree are processed here by about 90 women who are adept in processing and trading shea from all over the Tamale area. Clients stopped coming to the center when the Covid-19 protocols were implemented, and the business suffered as a result.
Some women who had quit other jobs to devote their time to shea processing are still hoping for a resurgence in business.
“I used to make peanut crunchies at home. Then we were summoned to the center, so I registered my identity and undertook a six-week processing training,” worker Amina Issahaku tells Africa Calling. “I was hesitant at first, but others urged me to go ahead and process,” she says.
According to Memunatu Salifu, one of the initial persons to work at the center, their wages had plummeted by late 2020 due to a drop in demand, pushing them back into poverty.
“I used to earn between €16.94 and €8.47 for each bag of nuts, but today I earned an average of €8.47.” I use this money to support my daughter-in-law and pay my younger children’s school costs. “Covid has had a tow on our livelihood,” she admits.
Shea butter is used to make chocolate, yogurt, confectionery, infant food, as well as a skin cream.
According to processor Memunatu Salifu, before Covid-19, some enterprises that used the shea butter for the processing of pomade and beverages manufactured by the women at the center also aided the community.
“We were approached first by the Savannah Fruits. “We saved our earnings of €14.17 euros and used them as loans to help women who were facing difficulties,” Salifu recalls.
Poverty versus shea demand
Shea Network Ghana has been lobbying for better regulations for shea workers and the commercial sector in downtown Tamale. According to Iddi Zakaria, national coordinator of Shea Network Ghana, 90% of Ghana’s shea butter exports goes to the food industry, while the remaining 10% is utilized for skincare, including women in local communities.
“Shea oil is exchanged at three levels of the value chain, then processed and sold to aggregators, who then sell to major purchasers, primarily in-country,” Zakaria explains.
“The nuts are processed into shea butter, which is fractionated into stearin and other derivatives before being shipped. Then there are a few processing centers that do handcrafted butter, usually for skincare,” he explains.
Shea butter manufacturing is the main source of income for women in Ghana’s north, according to a report by the Inclusive Business Action Network.
Shea production, according to Zakaria, might help to alleviate the country’s high poverty rate in the north, but it is largely dependent on demand.
“Eventually, people got into debt because they took a lot of loans from institutions, and then the enterprises shut down,” he says, adding that the European market is currently devoid of orders.
However, the market is improving, and Shea Network Ghana reports that warehouses are overflowing with butter and nuts.
Abiba Zakaria, a worker, believes the change is incremental.
“They’ve started buying now, but it’s still low compared to pre-covid levels.” We’ve heard that people who bring organic nuts for processing will be back soon, so we’re preparing for them and hoping that customers will begin to arrive,” she says.
