Changing lives with fair trade

Operating on a fair trade basis has made an immense difference to the women in the North of Ghana who collect Shea nuts in the wild and process organic Shea butter ready to be exported to the UK.

Seven years ago, this group of around 200 women operated as individual families and collectively managed to produce around 500kg of conventional Shea butter per year. Now established as an official co-operative they are able to pool resources, and produce up to 20 tonnes of organic certified Shea butter every six weeks!

How does this change their lives on a day-to-day basis:

• Rather than collecting Shea nuts and walking them 5 to 6 miles to the market to sell, the women are able to collect and process the Shea nuts into butter, using organic farming methods. This is then weighed and boxed and a large container lorry collects the boxes from the main operation area in the village ready to embark on the long journey to the port for shipping.
• Collectively the women have much more power, financial independence and opportunity by producing and selling this miracle raw ingredient as a group, as opposed to operating on an individual basis – the true essence of a working co-operative.
• The women are paid a fair price for the work which they undertake and their working conditions are closely monitored.
• Additional profits from the sale of the organic Shea butter are reinvested back into the community.
  • There is now a crèche for the younger children, which means the women don’t need to carry the little ones on their backs while they work.
  • There is also a school for the older children and Green People is currently looking at how we can provide more play and recreation equipment for the children.
  • Green People is supporting the development of a school/nursery library by providing hundreds of donated books from schools in the UK
• Finally, the organic farming process also guarantees that the women are not affected by harmful chemicals.

On practical terms, the women in this rural area create their own income, are able to provide for their families, send their children to school and in some cases, even build their own houses.

However, on a personal and more spiritual level the women have a sense of pride, dignity, independence and hope for the future. This is a real example of girl power and how women working together can achieve greater rewards for themselves and for the next generation.

The challenges of life in Ghana

The Ghanaians are known as some of the most cheerful people in Africa. And when the sun is out, the crops are flourishing and the community is working together to succeed, you can understand why.

But life is not always so bright and today in Ghana the people are facing a number of major challenges. The Weather!

One major exacerbating factor is the fluctuating weather conditions. While we are experiencing colder, wetter winters and hotter summers, the Ghanaians are finding that it is hard to predict when they are going to experience the different seasons, eg rainy or dry etc. And these seasons can now extend over longer periods of time. This can have a devastating effect on the production of crops which has a direct impact on the people involved in agriculture.

Rising Energy Prices

Another particularly harsh concern is the exceptional hikes in energy prices which have been inflicted by the Ghanaian government. This means that for businesses that are heavily dependent on energy (refrigeration-based business for example) the rising costs of fuel mean that they are simply unable to afford this commodity any longer, and some businesses are closing down, with a knock-on effect on their employees and suppliers. The search and implementation for an alternative means of energy is becoming very important.

Corrupt Business Practices

Sadly, there is still a layer of corrupt and dangerous business practice in Ghana (as there is elsewhere in the world), so everybody has to be particularly careful not to fall foul of these underhand methods of conducting trade.

Import Dependent

The country is becoming more and more dependent on imported goods, such as wheat for fluffy white bread, which can be both costly and unhealthy. And for some of these basic food imports, such as wheat, rice, vegetable oil, sugar and frozen chicken, there is no reason why Ghana can’t produce these important foodstuffs using its own fertile land, without the need for expensive trade and also creating more jobs and opportunities for the local population.

Bureaucracy

Because of overbearing bureaucracy, the costs of many commodities in Ghana are increasing dramatically which is making it tough on the local population, in times that are already demanding.