As International Women's Day was celebrated on 8 March this year under the theme "Investing in women: accelerating the pace", this contribution makes a call for greater investment in programmes that promote and guarantee the rights of women and girls in all aspects of life in order to build fair and prosperous economies. 

Probably, the best starting point for this is to showcase stories of unsung heroes, who inspire development partners and beneficiaries alike to do more and better. Do you know this inspiring woman who is rarely talked about? Her age doesn't limit her ability to believe in her dreams, and what is for many a chore is her daily routine in search of her livelihood. At dawn, the crow of the rooster finds her in the forests, covering kilometers in search of the women's gold: shea kernels.

In Africa, the unique experience of each of the 16 million rural women who make a living from shea inspires us more and more every day. Shea is an important crop, both economically and socially. It employs 4 million women for export and generates USD 237 million a year in income at the community level in West Africa. At the household level, shea accounts for up to 12% of household income and up to 32% of cash available, which is earned during the lean season.

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But how can we contribute to the ongoing empowerment of this woman, whose activity makes a major contribution to household expenses? Remember these words: cooperatives, training, infrastructure, equipment, market access, etc. 

From 2020 to 2023, in partnership with the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), the Global Shea Alliance (GSA) and its partners implemented the Regional Program to Support the Development of Inclusive Trade in the Shea Sector (PRADCIFK) in four West African countries, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Togo. 

The initiative, worth USD 3,620,240 over three years, has supported local, regional and international trade in shea kernels, butter and other high-value-added shea products. In line with the EIF's vision of helping the least developed countries seize the opportunity of trade to boost the performance of their economies, the project has facilitated collaboration between women's cooperatives, micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and manufacturers in the targeted countries to seize new market opportunities in Africa and Asia. 

Concrete results in three years includes 50 warehouses built (12 in Benin, 13 in Burkina Faso, 13 in Togo and 12 in Mali); 50 cooperatives established; over 35,000 women trained in good production practices, market research and contract management; and four semi-industrial shea butter processing centers up and running. Additionally, the project was able to mobilize additional resources of USD 1,400,108 through the establishment of 22 public-private partnerships, including USD 741,730 from the United States Agency for International Development and USD 658,378 from the private sector.

Do you have any recollection of the words mentioned above? 

In addition, the cooperatives produced and directly marketed over 10,000 tons of finished shea products, generating income of over USD 3.8 million over the course of the project. While direct income from marketing provides rural women with a stronger financial status, the fact remains that upstream training is the cornerstone of this example of empowerment. The testimony of Sambieni Madeleine, 32, a member of the Cobly (Tapoga) cooperative in Benin, speaks volumes:

Better still, the infrastructure and equipment made available to the cooperatives offer additional economic prospects for the beneficiaries. Ms Sambieni continues:

The PRADCIFK project has also enabled cooperatives and MSMEs to access over 30 new markets in Africa and Asia, opening up new prospects for the entire shea industry. Through capacity-building, exposure to new markets and trade show participation, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were able to innovate to improve their marketing practices and find new customers in South Africa, China and South Korea. Francis Tuina, General Manager of RPBHC (Réseau des Productrices de Beurre de Karité des Hauts-Bassins et Cascades), another beneficiary of the project intervention, explained:

Similarly, Djifa Adotevi, from S’fako, a Togolese cosmetic company, shared another example of a change brought by the project:

As a result of the project interventions, more than 2,500 jobs were created for young people, including women, over the course of the project. 

Almost a year after the project ended, this positive dynamic is continuing. Private companies are planning their purchases from the cooperatives supported by the project for the upcoming shea season. SMEs are seeing positive returns from the international market linkages established, and collaboration with the EIF National Implementing Units (NIUs) at the country level to build on past achievements, for example, around event co-organization for the Salon International du Karité de Ouagadougou (SIKO), is ongoing. Looking to the future, all shea stakeholders, from women cooperatives to women SMEs, private sector companies and NIUs, are looking forward to continuing harnessing the power of trade and climbing higher, enrolling other countries on the road.

From idea to impact, harnessing the power of trade at every stage of the process is a real formula for empowering women and helping to end poverty in a world facing multiple crises.