Shea Butter A Guide to Production and Marketing - AGOA Export ...

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Peace Corps Ghana Version 1, March 2008 1: The Biology of Shea Where do Shea trees live? Ghana is lucky. Ghana and Burkina have the best shea butter in the world. Why? Because the shea nuts here have the most desirable chemical balance, and the traditional processing methods create a very clean butter. The shaded areas depict rainfall values. The small grey dots show areas of shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa) in West Africa. The white dots are a different variety of shea trees in East Africa. Life Cycle As deforestation becomes a bigger problem in Ghana, the availability of shea nuts and butter is directly impacted. Bushfires, cutting of trees for firewood and destructive farming methods are all factors that affect the availability of shea nuts. Currently, local people and NGOs are more interested in protecting and cultivating shea trees. Understanding the life cycle of shea is essential to the survival of the shea butter business. The number of years for a tree to reach maturity, and therefore produce fruit, is up for debate, but it is generally accepted to be 3-5 years. Many people will argue that it requires 15 or even 20 years to fruit, but ask them how many trees they have planted. Information on lifespan of shea trees is sparse. The shea fruit is generally ripe from mid-May through the end of July. There is some variation due to location and rainfall. The fruit is edible and tasty. Mature nuts come from fruits that have fallen to the ground, so women will forage for fallen fruit, either Page 4 of 28
Peace Corps Ghana Version 1, March 2008 from the farm or any nearby forest. Butter processing is usually performed from June through August. Cultivation and Transplantation It has not been a common cultural practice to plant shea. Even some areas have strong taboos against planting shea, but families’ financial needs are beginning to overturn those beliefs. You can now find many people who are eager to propagate shea. And here’s how: The whole process takes time. Usually around 9 months the seedling will be visible above ground. And after one year, the seedling can be transplanted into the field. Transplanting should be done during rainy season, so the roots can fully develop before the dry season. How to Make Shea Butter * The shea nut is chock full of so many things- some desirable, some not. So the harvesting and post-harvest processing affect which of those things, desirable or not, are in the butter. As quality is the key factor to selling shea butter, it is important to understand the chemistry behind shea butter. Most women who process shea butter know all of this practical knowledge, so to learn how to make shea butter, it is best to go watch these local professionals. Here is a brief summary of the 12 steps to make shea butter from harvested shea nuts: * (see Annex 3 for a more detailed presentation) Page 5 of 28
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