The Evolution of Shea Butter's "Paradox of paradoxa" and the Potential Opportunity for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to Improve Quality, Market Access and Women's Livelihoods across Rural Africa

Abstract

Shea trees grow across 4 million km 2 of sub-Saharan Africa. Shea parklands provide a sustainable source of edible fat (shea butter) that, in terms of volume, is currently second only to cocoa butter as a vegetal source of stearic acid in the multi-billion dollar chocolate and cosmetic sectors. However, in terms of international trade, shea has been opaque to consumers of edible products (where the majority of shea exports end their global journey) and actually only well-known in western markets as a cosmetic ingredient. The millions of women collectors have been disconnected from global supply chains, as the majority of their sheanuts are factory processed, supplied by traders who, in many cases, do not understand quality issues nor share knowledge with their village-based collectors-this is the "Paradox of paradoxa". This review provides the background to this issue by contextualizing the industry and describing how weak post-harvest quality control impacts the shea supply chain. The paper then explains how this knowledge was incorporated into a 3D animation available for free transmission to rural African audiences and viewing on portable devices like video capable mobile phones. This tool offers the OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 5753 potential of low-cost multiple benefits to users, which we term here a win-cubed [win 3 ] opportunity, where women collectors can receive free knowledge of using less resources to produce higher quality shea kernels which in turn offer higher extraction yields, lowering production costs, of a better and more marketable product.

Tree-Based Production Systems for Africa’s Drylands

“…Approximately 18 million women are involved in shea collection and production (Naughton, Lovett, and Mihelcic 2015). Exports from Africa have risen over time at an annual average of about 220,000 tons (Bello-Bravo, Lovett, and Pittendrigh 2015) and with significant annual fluctuations. Peaks were observed in 2004 (263,000 tons), 2008 (350,000 tons), and 2013 (500,000 tons).…”

A Survey-Based Qualitative Analysis of the Institutional Structures and Policy Measures in the Shea Sector of Ghana

“…During the period of shea trade liberalization starting from mid-1990s, shea nuts experienced a decline in price on the international market which also coincided with a decline in cocoa prices (Bello-Bravo et al, 2015;Rousseau et al, 2015). The low international prices for the commodity coincided with the removal of restrictions on the participation of private companies.…”

“…The low international prices for the commodity coincided with the removal of restrictions on the participation of private companies. This factor altered the governance structure of the shea sector with several international private companies entering the mainstream operations of shea (Bello-Bravo et al, 2015). As Wardell and Fold (2013) note that several local individual entrepreneurs and small-scale companies also started operating in the sector.…”

Shea butter

“…Furthermore, there is a "Paradox of paradoxa" (Bello-Bravo, 2015); where 90% of advertising and consumer knowledge relates to handcrafted shea butter (HCSB), despite being a small proportion of all shea exports from Africa. As compared to the global vegetable oil industry trade volumes are small, invisible to most global consumers, and shea is still mostly sold as an ingredient in niche markets.…”