The Norwegian government has pledged its support to improve and develop women-led small enterprises to raise the standard of rural women in society. It said shea butter has become an international commodity, hence the need to equip the industry with modern equipment to boost production, export and increase the income levels of women especially those in the rural areas. The Norwegian Ambassador to Ghana, Ingrid Mollestad, gave the assurance when she visited the Gubdanda shea butter processing centre rat Gumo in the Kumbungu district of the Northern region.
The shea nut business continues to create sustainable income opportunities for hundreds of rural women particularly in the Northern part of the country. In these Communities, women are often the primary breadwinners for their families and income opportunities are limited. Last year the UNDP committed an amount of one million Ghana cedis to some fourteen shea centers in Kumbungu to boost the production of shea butter and its value chain. It also honoured the groups with certification to sell their products on the international market. This was the first direct financial support to women-led enterprises to obtain a Fairtrade certificate through UNDP Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program.
So far, over 5000 women in the shea butter value chain are employed in about 10 processing centres in Kumbungu managed by Ripples OR Ghana, a local NGO. The Gubdanda shea butter processing center is one of the ten processing centres with about 75 women working in the various production processes. Ambassador Ingrid Mollestad was taken through the production phases of producing quality shea butter. She acknowledged the hard work the women go through to produce the commodity to feed themselves and their families.
According to her, Norway is one of the biggest donors to the UNDP which is helping indigenous women in shea business to sustain and mainstream their traditional practices in business into the current development process through empowerment and direct technical support. Ambassador Mollestad was hopeful that after the hard work, they will get fair prices for their produce. She pledged her country’s commitment to supporting the processing centers with machines to enable them produce quality products.
The Director of Ripples OR Ghana, Hajia Rabiatu Abukari, expressed gratitude to the Norwegian government and UNDP for the support given to the shea business in the district. She said the business is really helping the women engaged in it and used the occasion to ask for more support towards its sustainability.
An elder of Gumo represented the Chief. He advised the people particularly women to stop cutting down shea trees for domestic use. He said the shea tree has numerous benefits including the production of shea butter which the women are engaged in therefore it will be disastrous to destroy the very thing that gives them livelihood.
By Joyce Kantam Kolamong
