More than 600,000 women in Northern Ghana depend on incomes from the sales of shea butter and other shea-related products as a means of their daily sustenance. In addition to its importance as a key income source for rural women, shea butter production can significantly contribute to increasing the possibility of the income generated being used for improvement of living standards of local women and their households. Further, shea butter has the potential of evolving into a viable export industry since private businesses in several countries have been expressing their interest in importing shea butter.
In this backdrop, UNDP Ghana in collaboration with partner agencies has developed a two-year collaborative intervention entitled “Empowering Rural Women and Alleviating Poverty by Strengthening the Local Shea Butter Industry in Northern Ghana”. In January 2007, this project received a seed funding from the UNDP/Japan Women in Development Fund (JWIDF), set up by the Japanese government.
This project aims at empowering rural women in Northern Ghana and alleviating their acute poverty by reinforcing the feasibility of local shea butter industry as a sustainable business. In order to achieve this goal, this project will: 1) identify the marketable quality of shea butter, 2) explore new markets for shea butter sales promotion, 3) provide business management skills for local women’s producer groups, and 4) transmit shea butter production skills and techniques among local women processors in a coordinated way.
The achievement of these goal and objectives requires a wide range of proficiency in shea butter production, marketing and promotion; thus, this project has strategically included four development agencies with different expertise, namely UNDP, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Africa 2000 Network, and AFRASIA Business Council and has integrated its own strengths for achieving the shared project goals.
List Of Other Sustainable Livelihoods And Employment Creation Projects
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Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Project in Northern Ghana
Ghana
