Public Agenda (Accra)
Basiru Adam
27 October 2009
analysis
A participant I was seated by got angry at a point and moaned to my hearing that nature has been too kind to the dark skinned loud-mouthed dwellers of sub-Saharan Africa; such that they have been overwhelmed and cannot use the abundant natural resources like the Shea nut to better their lot.
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."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Public Agenda. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
