Shea Warehouse in Murugu
Daryl Bosu
A responsible business partner
In order to realise the benefits of producing shea in the landscape, it was important to find and partner with a reliable company to fill two roles: develop value chains for women who collect and sell shea nuts, and support the community in conservation actions. This entailed looking at various opportunities, early preparation work with the company and framing it in a way to understand the needs of local communities. It was then that the Savannah Food Company (SFC) was identified and brought on board this journey.
Since the CREMA community was now more aware of nature’s benefits, they preferred to collaborate with a company that would be more than just a business partner, and actually contribute to their vision. Furthermore A Rocha Ghana ensured that SFC would pay good premiums for the women who collect shea, which also touched addressed the social component of the vision.
It is important to find a company that sees its role in society as more than just a profit-making enterprise, but also as a sustainability actor. SFC wanted to see an existing governance structure and an organised groups to make the contracting arrangement easier.