Shea butter When value chains become drivers of transformation 

 Archipel&Co recently carried out three missions for the shea butter industry: in Burkina Faso for L'Oréal and in Ghana for Bunge and Olvéa.

The shea butter industry plays a central role in the economic and social life of many rural communities in Africa. It relies almost entirely on the work of women, who are both the economic pillars and the guardians of a know-how deeply rooted in the territories. For them, shea represents an essential source of income, often decisive for the balance of households, but also a demanding, seasonal activity exposed to multiple vulnerabilities.  

Our recent work has documented, through field surveys and in-depth analyses, the working conditions of collectors, their sources of income, community balances, and the challenges of structuring and sustaining the sector. Our work reveals in particular that physical hardship, irregular income, social risks and environmental pressures weaken the activity in the long term and limit its potential for transformation.  

This is where companies have a decisive role to play. By working on concrete levers such as the organisation of cooperatives, access to collection and primary processing tools, access to training, income security and the preservation of shea tree plantations, they can strengthen women's economic autonomy and resilience.