Shea butter from Ghana with sfc employees

Organic shea butter from the SFC


Shea butter is an important raw material for both organic natural cosmetics and natural food. We source our shea butter from several countries in East and West Africa - including Ghana, where we work closely with the Shea Savannah Fruit Company (SFC).

sfc office with employees in Ghana

SFC employees in front of the office building

Commitment to the empowerment of women

SFC is committed to helping the female shea nut collectors in Ghana and ensuring that the women have a reliable and fair buyer of the shea nuts. In total there are about 10,500 female collectors, who live in 68 individual groups in villages embedded in Ghana's beautiful nature and often located directly in or next to one of the country's many nature reserves.
These nature reserves created by the state are protected in close cooperation with independent national and international Non Government Organisations (NGOs). The nature reserves are mainly located in the north, north-east and north-west of Ghana. The Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary, for example, where most of our shea nuts come from, is a sanctuary for hippos. In addition, NGO staff train the women, build storage buildings for the shea nuts and provide advice for the collectors.

Frauen waschen Sheanüsse in Ghana

Women washing the shea nuts

From the extraction of the shea nuts to the finished shea butter

After the women have collected the shea nuts, first the pulp is removed before the nuts are cooked, peeled, dried and filled into the bags provided by SFC. For protection, the shea nuts are then brought to the storage buildings in the centre of the villages.
SFC employees regularly visit the villages to pick up the shea nuts. During harvest time, this means about three sacks per collector. The women are paid immediately and all transactions are documented in detail. Only the women are entitled to the earnings, they have no other income. They use the money to buy food and other everyday things. But it also pays for the education of their children. Thus, girls can also be sent to school, which is unfortunately not a matter of course in Ghana.

The shea nuts are then taken by SFC to various production facilities owned by the women's groups themselves. The women have joined forces to produce the shea butter independently. They have also bought the machines and the equipment they need for production themselves - and the women are paid fairly for producing the shea butter as well.

As soon as the shea butter is ready, SFC will sell it directly to us. By buying our shea butter from Ghana, you are also contributing to the sustainable improvement of the role of women and their independence in Ghana.

Women stir shea butter in Ghana

The women's own production facilities

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