The beauty of shea butter
Written by Georgina Koomson (right), project founder of the Women’s Shea Butter Project, North Ghana
To me, the miracle of shea butter is not just the fact that it is nature’s very own super cosmetic (it has excellent moisturising and anti-ageing properties, offers natural UV protection, it is an anti-inflammatory and anti-irritant with the correct balance of essential fatty acids and a generous dose of vitamins A and E) but that this simple product is able to shape the lives of over 200 women in the rural regions of North Ghana who harvest and process organic shea butter, on a fair trade basis.
I started working with the women in a network of small villages in North Ghana in 2003 to give them an opportunity to market this highly desirable beauty commodity, in a manner which will have a dramatically positive impact on their lifestyle. The women have gone from producing 500kg of shea butter annually to up to 20 tonnes of shea butter every six weeks!
In real terms, this means that the women are able to earn enough money to support their families, send their children to school and in some instances, build their own homes. In the true spirit of fair trade a proportion of the profit is re-invested back into the community. There is now a crèche and a school for the children and more sophisticated production facilities. Not forgetting a renewed sense of pride, dignity and independence – something that money cannot buy!
We are currently working in partnership with organic beauty company Green People as we have been supplying shea butter for their cosmetic products for over five years. We are working together to identify other areas of need within our shea butter project so that Green People and its customers can genuinely invest in the community and forge an ongoing relationship based on mutual understanding with the women, men and children.
This open, honest, and direct approach to business has had an
immense impact on this hard working community who are now able to reap the benefits of their labour. They understand how collectively they have much greater power and business potential than as individuals – the essence of a co-operative business model.
It has not been plain sailing to achieve the production that we are now able to offer. There have been, and continue to be, plenty of hurdles along the way, but as we see a growing interest in products which are not just organic but are fairly traded, we know that this miracle ingredient really does provide a touch of magic and genuine opportunity to our beautiful ladies in North Ghana.
Natural skin care featuring shea butter
Shea butter is used in many Green People products:
Shea butter is also found in the recently reformulated Organic Homme range of men’s products: