Shea Industry Teeters on the Brink: Harsh Conditions Ravage Vital Trees
By Kingsley Webora TANKEH
The northern section of the nation, encompassing regions such as Upper East, Upper West, Northern, North East, and Savannah, is grappling with the effects of climate change. This phenomenon poses a significant threat to the survival of shea trees.
Shea trees — often referred to as the 'cocoa of the north' — are experiencing a significant drop in production because of the severe weather conditions impacting their output.
Over the past ten years, sheanut production has seen a downturn. Latest statistics indicate that this output has decreased between 10% and 20%, with the trend showing no signs of improvement as it keeps falling victim to climate change along with various additional ecological influences.
Amidst this situation, exports continue to rise each year – slowly causing the domestic industry to become less productive.
Each year, Ghana yields more than 150,000 metric tons of shea nuts. Out of this amount, merely 30-40 percent undergo domestic processing into shea butter. The remainder is primarily shipped overseas, particularly to Europe, in their unprocessed form for further refinement.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, almond nut exports decreased marginally in 2020. That year saw only 75,000 metric tons with a value of $70 million being shipped from Ghana. Nevertheless, almond nut exports rebounded in 2021 and have continued to grow. In 2021, about 85,000 metric tons were exported for roughly $80 million. By 2022, more than 90,000 metric tons of almonds and almond butter—worth around $90 million, an amount that might have fetched higher prices had they been processed domestically—were sent abroad.
In response to this alarming development, the Ghana Shea Employers Association (GSEA) reiterated their call for an urgent prohibition on exporting unprocessed shea nuts during a press briefing. They warned about the increasing risk posed to regional processors, stakeholders along the supply chain, and the overall economy in the Northern Region due to this issue.
This scenario is having an adverse impact on harvesters, processors, and small enterprises—many run by women," the association expressed with disappointment. They further stated that this disruption has led to a significant decline in the local shea industry.
The shea industry players express worry over the export of raw shea nuts without value addition and the less investment in the country’s shea value chain to create opportunities for Ghanaians.
Consequently, the organization is urging involvement from international investors, provided they set up manufacturing plants in Ghana to enhance employment opportunities and increase local income.
SHEANUTS, as a prominent non-conventional agricultural export from the region, offer a chance to boost the earnings of rural women in northern Ghana, aiding in narrowing the economic disparity between the north and south of the country.
The worldwide market for shea butter is valued at approximately $2.75 billion and is expected to surge to around $5.58 billion by 2033, with an annual growth rate of between 6% and 8%.
Nevertheless, the combination of low output along with an increase in overseas demand has reportedly led to considerable hikes in prices within the community. This situation is hindering the expansion of local industries and poses a challenge for the whole supply chain.
For example, a 2-kilogram container of shea nuts was priced at GH¢12 in 2023 and increased to GH¢14 in early 2024. Nevertheless, because of interference from intermediaries and unchecked market practices, this same quantity now retails for GH¢60.
The Ghana COCOBOD, responsible for regulating the commodity's price, has failed to prevent price volatility and curb the activities of middlemen.
The price increase appears significant. Nonetheless, the susceptible sheanut collectors from the northern region, mostly females, keep facing exploitation at the hands of intermediaries.
In addition to climate change issues, the shea sector—unlike cocoa—does not receive sufficient support like incentives for farmers to increase nut production and cultivation.
This situation forces the local industry to struggle with sourcing sheanuts for maintaining their production levels. Meanwhile, a significant portion of the nation's harvest is exported unprocessed to international corporations abroad. Those firms subsequently transform these raw materials into finished products and resell them in Ghana at premium prices.
Extracted from sheanuts, shea butter serves as an important ingredient utilized in cooking, cosmetic manufacturing, and pharmaceutical applications. Additionally, it can be employed as a replacement for cocoa butter in making chocolate. This makes it a crucial export item for Ghana, a country renowned as one of the leading global suppliers.
The adverse impacts of the climate threat have turned daily life into something unbearable and exasperating for those residing in affected regions, affecting the whole nation through knock-on consequences.
Due to the oppressive heat accompanying outbreaks of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) and the death of trees, the effect on the economic activities of the population—mostly small-scale farmers—is evident.
The rainfall has turned unpredictable and brief, leading to sporadic dry spells.
This is adversely affecting small-scale farmers who depend significantly on monsoon rains for their agricultural tasks.
As these areas act as the nation's breadbasket, even minor disruptions there affect food costs.
The severe drought that hit the northern region during the 2024 growing season caused food prices to skyrocket towards the end of last year, highlighting the crucial role the north plays in ensuring food security across Ghana.
However, there hasn't been a focused and sustained initiative to implement irrigation systems in the northern regions or encourage dry-season agriculture as a reliable method to bolster the nation's food security.
Instead, it's a series of unsuccessful initiatives – with the situation deteriorating every day.
The 'One Village, One Dam' project, which was expected to be a comprehensive solution for this ongoing issue, failed to make significant improvements. Poor execution caused several dams to become depleted shortly after the rainy season ended, leaving farmers right where they started.
After enduring almost six months without rainfall — a period during which they couldn’t farm at all — these susceptible farmers see their limited savings dwindle as they spend what little money they have on essential food items and other basics following the drought’s destruction of their crops. This has a devastating effect on their ability to earn a living.
More alarmingly, droughts have increasingly become a frequent occurrence as a result of global warming in recent years.
The impacts of climate change extend beyond just food crops; deep-rooted trees are also affected by the continuously increasing temperatures.
Boasting a robust bark adapted to the harsh conditions of the savannah, the shea tree relies on periodic rainfalls. This species begins producing fruits at around ten years old and achieves maximum yield approximately two decades later, surviving for an impressive span of 200 to 300 years.
Nevertheless, the consistently increasing temperature — often reaching over 40 degrees during summer peaks — has an impact not just on the yields produced by these shea trees but also leads to some of them perishing in the intense heat.
Various cultural practices have exacerbated the difficulties associated with continuous shea production as well. In numerous communities where shea trees are produced, it is still considered forbidden to grow these trees, due to an age-old conviction that planting a shea tree will lead to death when it starts bearing fruit.
Regrettably, limited efforts have been made to dispel this myth… resulting in continued reliance on wild shea trees and hindering the systematic cultivation of this valuable economic resource.
Uncontrolled extraction, deforestation, widespread wildfires, cutting down shea trees for firewood and charcoal manufacturing, along with the conversion of shea orchards into extensive farmlands, are jeopardizing wildlife diversity and intensifying global warming.
Shea trees play a vital role as substantial reservoirs of carbon, making them essential for combating climate change and protecting biodiversity. The shea woodlands are teeming with wildlife diversity and hold considerable promise for capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) supported the Ghana Shea Landscape Emissions Reduction Project, which was designed to rehabilitate damaged savanna woodlands; however, it hasn’t met its goals so far. Even though nearly half of its timeline—five out of ten years—has passed and only three years remain until the deadline, significant forest restoration efforts have not yet materialized within this region’s landscape.
Cocobod estimates that about 94 million shea trees can be found throughout the savannah of Northern Ghana. Meanwhile, the broader West African region hosts roughly one billion such trees.
Provided by Syndigate Media Inc. ( Syndigate.info ).
