The shea tree as a cash crop

Photo credit: CIFOR

A shea fruit in Burkina Faso. Local control of shea nut supply endures despite similar growth in global demand that transformed the supply chains of other similar cash crops such as coffee and cocoa. Ollivier Girard/CIFOR photo

Global demand can’t loosen local control of a crucial cash crop

BY JOAN BAXTER

Global demand for Africa’s shea nuts is growing, butnew research suggests that if rural women in West Africa who harvest the nuts are to benefit from the boom, it’s important that companies and development agents working with shea do not attempt to sideline local networks of shea wholesalers.

Shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) – http://www.globalshea.com/cache/images/2012-06-29_tamale_shea_picking-6061_344.jpg

The study, undertaken in western Burkina Faso by researchers from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the French international agricultural research center (CIRAD), found that globalization of the shea market has greatly influenced the volume and the price of shea nut exports.

Shea nut processing in Burkina Faso – http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Shea_nut_processing_in_Burkina_Faso.jpg

However, despite the fact that companies and NGOs would like to shorten the value chain to increase the benefits for the mostly women producers, so far globalization has had remarkably little impact on the organization of the regional shea nut supply chain in Burkina Faso.

Read the full article: CIFOR