I attended a Workshop in Nigeria, that addressed the challenges of financing the shea butter business in Nigeria. The same problem holds true for other African countries involved in the Shea butter business.
In order to be fully engaged and enjoy the potential benefits of the shea butter trade, local producers need to be linked with strategic partners in the following areas:
Training - Expert input on improving existing production process in order to produce a consistent quality product that will command a premium price.
Financing - To obtain warehouse space to store nuts that are gathered during the harvesting period. Transportation costs to move nuts from the field to the local processing center. Appropriate technology to do some aspects of production.
Marketing - Ethical companies with ties to the International market that will find buyers for the finished products
There are a number of organizations working with the women to attain this goal. GTZ and the West African trade Hub are working with local women's cooperative all over West Africa to achieve these goals.
