The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for Peace Corps Volunteers to conduct shea activities, along with the resources to carry out each of the projects.

November

2014

Global Shea Alliance Accra, Ghana

www.globalshea.com

The Shea

Toolkit Prepared for: The United States Peace Corps Prepared by: Global Shea Alliance

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION AND OVERALL GUIDANCE 2

SUGGESTED CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES FOR PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS 3

A. BASELINE SURVEY 4

B. THE SHEA VALUE CHAIN 7

C. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 8

D. VILLAGE, SAVINGS, AND LOANS ASSOCIATIONS 9

E. WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT 10

F. AGROFORESTRY AND PARKLAND MANAGEMENT 12

H. VALUE ADDITION- SOAP MAKING 13

I. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 14

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INTRODUCTION AND OVERALL GUIDANCE

Shea trees are grown in the Savanna-belt of Africa from Senegal to Somalia. The shea tree produces a fruit, which contains a nut. From that nut, butter (also referred to as oil) is extracted. The butter is sold and used locally, but in addition there is a large international market. In 2011, 360,000 tons of shea nut were exported from West Africa, which equates to significant foreign exchange earnings for the country. This economic growth, however, is different from typical goods that dominate the export markets of developing countries, such as oil and minerals. It is truly an industry whose roots are traced to African women, the shea nut collector, with whose hands the shea fruits are picked. The region where shea trees are grown is also an area with some of the highest poverty rates in the world. In West Africa, it’s an entry point that has strong potential for women’s empowerment and effectively engaging smallholder farmers in an international market. That is why Peace Corps Volunteers have been working on shea-related projects for several years, and why the Global Shea Alliance would like to support volunteers in doing so.

The Global Shea Alliance (GSA) is a representative body of participants in the global shea value chain. Its role is to promote trade in shea nuts and butter for the full range of members from international buyers to shea nut collectors in rural communities. Some of the GSA’s current projects include an annual international conference, advocating for national and international laws that are in the best interest of all shea stakeholders, and quality training for nut processing groups throughout West Africa. More information can be found on their website, www.globalshea.com.

Peace Corps Volunteers can play a central role in improving the women’s position in this global value chain. For example, women’s groups can get a higher price for their nuts if they enter into contract directly with the buyer and provide a higher quality product. Setting up a warehouse for the women to directly transact with the exporter is a mechanism to empower the women. Nuts have to be aggregated for export. Typically, it isn’t feasible for a buyer to come in and collect nuts from each and every household. Each woman only collects about 2 bags, and to fill a truck to bring the shea nuts to Accra takes 400 bags. So, the nuts have to be aggregated. The person that aggregates the nuts then gets a share of the profit. If that activity is transferred to the women, with the help of a Peace Corps Volunteer, then they will get that share of the profit, and the women can learn business and management skills along the way.

This toolkit is designed to provide you with a roadmap and the resources you need to carry out projects. The toolkit is divided into topics which can individually be used when working with a shea cooperative or other group. Supporting training material is listed in the green boxes in each section, titled “Tools to Use”.

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SUGGESTED CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES FOR PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS

This calendar contains suggestions for when to conduct the training provided in this toolkit as those topics relate to the shea season and your service. The project you decide to pursue with the group will be carried out over a few months. For example, if the group wants to build a warehouse and you feel that they have the capacity to do so, that will require securing funding, construction, and training at the center. Observation of the group and the interaction of the community with shea should also be carried out throughout your service. The ‘$’ indicates shea nuts selling at a low price, the ‘$$’ indicates shea nuts selling at a higher price.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun $

1st Yr Observation/

Baseline Survey

Sensitization on shea value chain and SWOT analysis

CONTACT: GSA with profile of group and for quality training

TRAIN: Quality (Apr-Aug)

PLAN: Write Action Plan with group/counterpart

(Shea season starts mid-May)

Process shea nuts with the women, process butter with the women

2nd Yr

Warehouse Construction

Business Development Training*

TRAIN: Quality (Apr-Aug)

Jul $ Aug $$ Sep $$ Oct $$ Nov $$ Dec $$

1st Yr

Plant nuts in nursery

ASSESSMENT: Profile the group for market linkages, send to GSA if appropriate

TRAIN: VSLA TRAIN: VSLA

TRAIN: Warehouses

Secure Funding for Warehouse/Identify Warehouse

TRAIN: Conservation

2nd Yr

TRAIN: Value Addition TRAIN: Conservation

The time when fruits are harvested and shea nuts are processed for storage/selling/extraction.

* Business Development and Organizational Training can be done at any time throughout the year when the group is able to meet.

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A. BASELINE SURVEY

Adapted from Peace Corps Ghana’s Shea Questionnaire and Peace Corps Mali’s “How Nuts Are You?” Quiz.

Groups/Group Formation 1. Is there an existing group in your community that is devoted to selling shea nuts? 2. Is there an existing group in your community that is devoted to processing shea

nuts/selling butter? 3. If so, is this group registered in any way as a formal Co-op or member of an association? 4. How many people are currently active members of this group? 5. How long has the group been operating? 6. Is the group primarily based around Shea, or are there other activities that the group is

working with? What projects/activities have they done (or currently do)? 7. Is the group currently supported by an NGO or other organization? Or in the past? 8. Has the group ever received training? And if so, on what?

Natural Resources 1. Are there a large number of shea trees in your area? 2. How close to your village are the Shea trees? (How far do women have to go to collect

the nuts?) 3. Are the trees located on communal land or are they individually owned? 4. Are any new trees growing in the area? (either naturally that you have noticed or

planted in a nursery) 5. Has anyone planted (or transplanted) shea trees? 6. If there are no new trees being planted, what are the reasons? (Traditional taboo, land

rights) 7. What is the health status and/or age of the shea trees in the village? (Are they still

fruiting and do they have parasites?) 8. What are the threats to the shea trees? (Are they being cut down and used as

firewood?) 9. Are there any shea trees that are actively managed (formal parkland recognized by the

local government, pruning, planting)?

Quality 1. How are they storing the nuts? Does the group have a storage facility? 2. What is preventing them from being contaminated from animals? 3. What are the steps to processing? (for future quality control, knowing this will be very

useful. Maybe even try to sit and watch.) 4. Is the group certified in any way? 5. Does anyone in the group process shea differently? 6. How does this group's methods compare to other groups?

Market 1. Where is the product sold? (Small local market or regional capital, and are they selling

nuts or butter) 2. How do they transport it to where it is sold? 3. How do they decide where to sell? 4. What price do women usually get for the nuts/butter? 5. Who purchases the product? 6. Is the product packaged or promoted in any way?

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7. Is there a cooperative or individual that buys nuts from a smaller group or individuals in order to resell to larger markets?

Funds Management 1. Are there any records kept? 2. How much money does the group make? 3. If the money is saved, how is it saved (in a bank or VSLA box)? 4. Is the money used for individual expenses or does it go back to the group?

Processing 1. Are women collecting and selling nuts in the market? 2. Is shea butter being produced in your area? 3. Is there a mill for women to use? Does the mill work? 4. What is the Shea season for your community? When are seeds:

a. Collected b. Processed into butter c. Sold

5. If the women/collective group is processing butter, what is the butter used for? (do they consume it? Sell it?)

Big Picture 1. Are there any future goals the group has which needs to be addressed? 2. What are the specific difficulties the group has faced/is facing which need to be

addressed?

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PRODUCER PROFILE WORKSHEET

If the group you are working with is interested in contacting buyers, please, complete the following worksheet and send it to the Global Shea Alliance. (info@globalshea.com) It is important that this information is as accurate as possible because buyers will expect that groups can meet production amounts that will be defined in contracts.

OVERVIEW Community Name, Country:

PCV Name:

PCV Contact (phone/email):

Dates of PCV Service:

Group/Cooperative Name:

Current group/cooperative IGA:

Prior group/cooperative IGA/Activities:

VOLUME Current annual volume the group is producing:

How did you estimate that?

a. Looked at records kept by the group b. The group estimated the amount c. Estimated using 80 kilo/woman/year

(GSA recommended average, equivalent to two bags of nuts)

d. Other

TRANSPORTATION

Is the community accessible by road year round?

a. Paved road to a location where the women can walk and carry/transport nuts.

b. Unpaved road, accessible by large truck year-round, leading to an area where the women can walk and carry/transport the nuts.

c. Unpaved road, accessible by large truck during certain parts of the year, leading to an area where the women can walk and carry/transport the nuts.

d. The village is not accessible by truck anytime over the year.

e. Other.

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B. THE SHEA VALUE CHAIN

Purpose: This can be used as a way to introduce yourself to the group and bring up the potential of a shea-related project for you and a group of women. It focuses on potential markets. The value chain section is included in the warehouse management section.

Background: PCVs see shea butter at both extremes. Here in Ghana, we see it in the form of balls of local butter sold for around 50 pesawa. In the US, we saw fancy cosmetic products sitting on supermarket shelves that sold for around $20. Where is that value added to the product? Who is making that profit?1

A value chain includes everyone involved in getting that product from the tree to store shelves. Understanding where the shea nuts go can help the women understand the best way to make more money from shea. For example, is it more profitable to process the nuts into butter, sell the nuts in a different market, or collect more nuts? A better understanding of the shea value chain can help the women make a more informed decision.

Following the value chain discussion, identify where the women can improve their situation using a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It is a tool to analyze growth opportunities for a business. Draw a four-square matrix on a flip chart, one for each of the four areas. Strengths and weaknesses focus on internal factors. Opportunities and threats focus on external factors.

This is similar to PACA needs assessment tools (Participatory Action for Community Analysis) typically used by PCVs. Activities like these create transparency in the decision-making process and help build group consensus to move forward on projects. It’s a way to empower the group to feel good about themselves (strengths and opportunities), but at the same time, identify areas of improvement (weaknesses and threats). Here are some questions to prompt the group while doing a SWOT analysis:

Strengths: Why does this group have an advantage over others?

Weaknesses: Why is the group at a disadvantage compared to others?

Opportunities: What resources does the group have (or can get) to expand?

Threats: What could cause trouble for the group?

1 Shea Butter Production Guide (Ghana)

Tools to Use: • Value Chain Flipbook • Value Chain Talking Points

Take notes on this discussion. You and your counterpart should use the information to write an action plan

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C. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Purpose: This session should be used to train a women’s group on how to process higher quality nuts. The quality of the nut determines how much butter it will produce, and what quality of butter. Also, the improved method typically reduces resource use (less time spent boiling nuts and less water use). Use the poster and accompanying presenter notes to lead the training. If possible, do the training along with the women processing nuts.

Background: Higher quality nuts produce more and higher quality butter. It is also easier to process the nuts in the butter. Low quality nuts yield 0-25% butter by kernel weight, but high quality nuts can yield up to 50% butter by kernel weight. At these rates, if you are processing 45 kilos into butter, you lose about 35 cedis worth of butter. The steps are straight forward, and can be communicated to farmers using the poster provided by the Global Shea Alliance. They are not much different from what the women are probably doing already.

These are the steps involved in processing the shea nuts from harvesting to storage, extraction, or selling. There are some variances in how the women perform each step. For example, shea in Mali is smoked instead of boiled. This introduces carcinogens into the nuts. Another example, some women dry but don’t sort the nuts.

For industry-approved best practices in shea nut processing, please refer to the quality poster:

Tools to Use: • Quality Talking Points • Quality Poster

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D. VILLAGE, SAVINGS, AND LOANS ASSOCIATIONS

Purpose: Village, Savings, and Loans Associations (VSLAs) are a simple way to bring a group together so that they can save money, and take loans from their savings. This session has enough information for the volunteer to support a group in establishing a VSLA. It includes training directions for individual sessions, a sample passbook for the group to use, and a sample constitution. VSLAs are an effective development model to bring access to microfinance and savings where bank resources are inaccessible.

Background: VSLAs are a great project for PCVs because they are a real-life application of behavior change theory and capacity building. A group uses its own resources to save money and provide loans for each other, meanwhile learning the principles of microfinance and building trust within a group. The VSLA model is applicable for new groups, groups that have had financial difficulty in the past (such as squandered loan payments or mismanagement of executives), or groups that want to start selling outside of the local market for the first time.

The VSLA model has been used throughout the developing world because of its accessibility; you don’t need any capital to start. They are appropriate for any group that includes women (shea nut collectors, shea butter producers, or soap and pomade makers).

How does it work? The PCV and counterpart provide the following support:

1. Explain the concept of VSLA to the group 2. Train them over the course of a month on how to hold a meeting using the guidance

provided 3. Establish a constitution using the provided format 4. Help the group get a metal box

Adapt the training material as you see fit. An extensive guide, “Village Agent Training Guide”, can be downloaded for free from VSLA.net (you just have to register first).

Tools to Use: • Summary VSLA Training

Guide • VSLA Printable Passbook • Savings Box Instructions • Village Agent Training Guide

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E. WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT

Purpose: If the shea nut collectors want to empower themselves to increase their profits from collecting shea nuts, women can work together to sell nuts. The establishment and proper management of a warehouse can enable them to do this. In the shea export industry, nuts are typically bought on the open market, however, an increasing amount are purchased directly from women’s cooperatives. This is a practice that Peace Corps Volunteers should be encouraging.

Background: Industry constraints are felt throughout the supply chain. For the exporter, transportation and time are significant costs. Working directly with a women’s group requires increased staff time, and for women that are not based in the market, aggregating the nuts is a significant transportation cost. Women face market and storage constraints. The local markets are flooded with nuts during the shea nut harvesting season, and the quality of nuts degrades over time due to poor storage practices. A warehouse managed by a women’s cooperative relieves constraints at both ends of the supply chain.

Training a group to manage a warehouse is a tangible way to build the capacity of rural women’s groups. The group will have to elect a competent management committee to keep records for the warehouse, and each member will have to keep records (or they will keep a passbook that is written in by someone on the management committee). The group will have to learn negotiation skills, and use their local market knowledge to obtain an appropriate price for their nuts, higher than the market price because they have aggregated them and are properly storing them. The warehouse can be used as training to understand the export value chain, a concept that can be applied to other foodstuffs or goods the women can earn money from.

The record keeping process, from the individual women’s perspective, is very similar to the rural microfinance model, Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs). They put something of value into a collectivized location. In the case of shea, this is a warehouse, but in the case of VSLAs, this is a metal box where weekly savings are kept. The group benefits from collectivizing; they can use the money as collateral for individual loans or take loans directly from the savings.

The physical requirements of a warehouse are straight-forward. It must be a building that follows these principles: dry and cool, keeps the nuts out of the sun, clean, and no holes or cracks in the roof, walls or floors. Inside the warehouse, the nuts should be stored in jute sacks (not fertilizer bags) off the floor. The women can use pallets or firewood to keep them off the floor. A storage facility can be made from an existing building, but to aggregate the nuts to a level that will attract a buyer, it should fit at least 200-400 bags. The Global Shea Alliance is building two storage facilities to empower women’s groups in Benin and Cote d’Ivoire. The facilities will have the capacity to store 100 metric tons of shea nuts, which can hold about 1,200 85-kilo bags. The dimensions of the facility are 26’x20’, with a roof 23’ high.

Training material: Complete the producer profile before doing this training. If the group has access to a surplus of nuts and a road accessible by truck, then proceed with the training. This training uses a flipbook for the PCV to lead sessions on how to manage a warehouse. This training lays the foundation for a group that might have the capacity to build and manage a warehouse.

Tools to Use: • Warehouse Management Flip Book • Warehouse Management Talking Points

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This portion of the toolkit is in three parts. They can be done as three separate trainings, or all in one with emphasis as needed depending on where the group is. Here is the breakdown of the picture-heavy flipbook:

Part One: Purpose of Warehouse 1. Discussion with the group on what a value chain is. Should use the producer profile to do

this. 2. Role play of value chain from woman to export, compare empowered women to buying

agent. 3. Four great reasons to use a warehouse.

Part Two: Record Keeping 1. Role play of confusion at the warehouse. 2. Discussion with the group on what records they think should be kept. 3. Think of it like a VSLA. 4. Pictures of records that should be kept by the individual at the warehouse. 5. Role of the management committee, and records that should be kept.

Part Three: Physical Role of a Warehouse 1. Discussion on what a warehouse should do. What should it protect against? 2. Picture of a warehouse and how it should be built. 3. Reminder of the quality poster. A warehouse will maintain the quality of nuts, buyers like

that.

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F. AGROFORESTRY AND PARKLAND MANAGEMENT

Resources developed by Peace Corps Ghana’s Shea Committee and Peace Corps Mali.

Purpose: Shea trees are a natural resource and should be managed as such to sustain the industry. Nuts are collected from trees on the farm (agroforestry) and trees in the bush (parklands). The trees are at risk from human population pressure; use as firewood charcoal, and roof support; bush burning; and parasites. The women that rely on the trees do not feel empowered to protect and propagate them. This is where the Peace Corps Volunteer can provide direction. Volunteers can encourage conservation through sensitization and technical training where appropriate. The training material included in the agroforestry/parkland management session is geared toward sensitization.

Background: Shea trees are native to the Savanna region of Sub-Saharan Africa, and though they contribute significantly to the economy in that region, the trees are not actively managed for a sustainable supply. Therefore, shea is an entry point to talk about tree and land conservation because the protection of its regeneration is often overlooked in areas where farming is favored.

To promote improved conservation practices, Peace Corps Ghana’s Shea Committee, with input from the University of Development Studies in Ghana, developed a flipbook and accompanying talking points to sensitize communities, groups, or individuals the importance of parkland management and tree preservation.

A second point of intervention for PCVs in regard to parkland management is tree planting and grafting. Shea is not actively cultivated or managed, but can easily be included in tree nursery crops that promote multiple tree species. Nuts to plant should be collected from prolific shea trees and can be planted just after harvesting the fruit. It takes about nine months to germinate, and up to 20 years to fruit. These numbers can be discouraging, but with grafting and a sustainable tree nursery, parkland management can be achievable for community members.

Shea propagation is an appropriate environmental or agricultural activity for PCVs to pursue. The Shea Tree Grafting Manual, written by Peace Corps Volunteers in Mali, provides in depth techniques to nursing and grafting to start a project with the community.

Tools to Use: • Conservation Talking Points • Conservation Toolkit • Shea Grafting Manual

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G. VALUE ADDITION- SOAP MAKING

Purpose: Adding value to shea nuts collected or purchased locally can increase the profit women receive from involvement in the shea market.

Background: There are a variety of ways to add value to a product ranging from agroprocessing—selling butter or soap instead of nuts—to improved marketing—adding packaging and producing a higher quality product. At the local level, adding value to an agricultural commodity can mean more income for local women. Soap making is an entry point for volunteers to build trust and rapport with a women’s group, and see how capable the group is at taking on a new project. The flip-cards include picture instructions on how to make soap and business skills training to be used for those wanting to sell.

Here is an outline of what’s included in the toolkit:

• Soap Making Instructions • Business Training

The following is a suggested implementation plan to use for training on group on soap making:

Week 1: Introduction • Read everything included in the kit beforehand. • Meet with the group and make sure they are interested in the soap training. Tell them what

material they will be expected to bring to the training, what you will provide, and show them the material in the toolkit. This soap is comparable to key soap (not omo or dish soap).

• Use the flip-cards of soap making directions with pictures with the group so that they will know what to expect. This is also something you can go through with your translator beforehand so that the training goes smoothly.

Week 2, Day 1: Prepare for Demonstration (done by the volunteer without the group) • Buy materials listed on the first page. • Mix the caustic soda with the water and let it sit somewhere where kids won’t get to it. If

you can, meet with the group the day before and show them the caustic soda powder before you pour it into the water. It is okay to let the caustic soda sit for much longer than overnight.

Week 2, Day 2: Demonstration • Do the soap demonstration with the group. • Go through the flip-cards with drawings and tips. The tips are intended for the volunteer

and should be used whenever problems arise. • Use the business training and discussion questions to talk about soap making as a business

with the group.

Month 2: Follow-Up • You should meet with the group you trained again and see if they are making the soap

and/or having any challenges that you might be able to address. If they are making it, ask the group the same business and discussion questions you did with them at the last training. Mainly, how can they make more money with this? (Sell it somewhere else, use better packaging) If they aren’t making it, why not?

SAFETY FIRST- The caustic soda that is used in soap is very dangerous. Never touch the powder and always use gloves when making soap. A safety sheet is included in the flip-cards.

Tools to Use: • Soap Toolkit

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H. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Purpose: This section is meant to strengthen existing businesses. Topics covered in this section include marketing and cost-benefit analysis for producing at different levels of the shea value chain. The activities you choose to do from this section should respond to what was found by doing the SWOT analysis in the value chain section of the training. For example, if the group is considering processing butter, they should do a cost benefit analysis to find out if that is a good idea for the group.

A. Marketing Marketing of shea nuts, butter, and products is an avenue of business that can go overlooked. Encourage the women to address marketing using the Marketing Worksheet. Utilizing the four Ps of marketing, this will guide the group to identify where they stand in each area, and discuss where they can improve. For example, if the group is just selling nuts in the market, they should discuss where else they could sell (placement), and what price they are selling at (price). Another example, if the group is selling shea soap and pomade to shops in area, this is a way to discuss how they package the product and the price they sell for it.

B. Cost-Benefit Analysis With every economic activity PCVs promote, the question should be asked- “Is it worth it?” Performing a cost-benefit analysis lets the women consider how much money and resources they are spending on the activity compared to income generated. The estimates of costs should include the cost of fuel, water, labor, etc. The estimates of benefits should include total revenue from nut/butter making.

Tools to Use: • Marketing

Worksheet

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