Just Shea Program
The Just Shea Program is augmenting the health and economy of the women shea harvesters of Ghana with a multi-pronged approach including: providing safety gear to groups of women harvesters as a loan repaid in shea nuts, to protect them from ubiquitous snakes, and the establishment of cooperative silos to increase the price per kilo paid to the harvesters. Link here to read our most recent update from the field.
Shea is often referred to as women’s gold: it is a culturally designated women’s domain and often the sole source of income to support and educate many sub-Saharan African women’s children. In Ghana alone, more than 900,000 women collect over 130,000 tonnes of dry shea nuts annually and the industry benefits close to two million poor people in the country, 95 percent of whom are from rural households.
Despite a sustained increase in demand for shea nuts and butter on an international market worth $82 million, over 25 percent of shea nuts harvested from Ghana's trees are neither sold nor processed domestically. This is due largely to the inefficiency and inequity of the local supply chain—in which women harvesters often receive only a fraction of the prevailing market price because they cannot get their product to market and must sell at a decreased price at the village roadside. An additional 60 percent (80,000 tonnes) of the available shea is not harvested at all because of the fear generated by unsafe working conditions for women harvesters—upon whom the entire shea trade depends. The harvesters must negotiate vipers, mambas, and scorpions in order to bring in their crop. It is estimated that at least 45,000 women are bitten by venomous snakes while harvesting.
The Just Shea Program is funded in part by our Social Business, Just Shea: a line of luxury skincare products made with safely harvested, equitably traded shea butter, created expressly for this purpose. Find out more about the Just Shea product line at www.justshea.com.
Shea is often referred to as women’s gold: it is a culturally designated women’s domain and often the sole source of income to support and educate many sub-Saharan African women’s children. In Ghana alone, more than 900,000 women collect over 130,000 tonnes of dry shea nuts annually and the industry benefits close to two million poor people in the country, 95 percent of whom are from rural households.
Despite a sustained increase in demand for shea nuts and butter on an international market worth $82 million, over 25 percent of shea nuts harvested from Ghana's trees are neither sold nor processed domestically. This is due largely to the inefficiency and inequity of the local supply chain—in which women harvesters often receive only a fraction of the prevailing market price because they cannot get their product to market and must sell at a decreased price at the village roadside. An additional 60 percent (80,000 tonnes) of the available shea is not harvested at all because of the fear generated by unsafe working conditions for women harvesters—upon whom the entire shea trade depends. The harvesters must negotiate vipers, mambas, and scorpions in order to bring in their crop. It is estimated that at least 45,000 women are bitten by venomous snakes while harvesting.
The Just Shea Program is funded in part by our Social Business, Just Shea: a line of luxury skincare products made with safely harvested, equitably traded shea butter, created expressly for this purpose. Find out more about the Just Shea product line at www.justshea.com.
