Shea Nut Initiative

AGSVL has embarked on a program to identify the location and quantity of Shea Nuts in the North Ghana. Western companies are interested in a supply of the Shea Nut but only if sufficient supply of this agricultural product is available by collection for export.

Shea Nut Survey

AGSVL is now in the process of indentifying the quanties of Shea Nuts that are available for collection by village. If you have knowledge of the location of groves of Shea Nut trees, please contact us.

Shea Tree Facts

In a report at http://www.fao.org/docrep/w3735e/w3735e17.htm the following figures from a Shea survey in Burkina Faso are offered:

The average nut is 3.2 grams.

It is reported that the average yield of dried nuts per tree is about 750 or 2.4 kg. In Burkina Faso, shea nuts are collected in a pot called a Yoruba with a volume holding 875 nuts or 2.8 kg.

In the referenced report, it was found there are about 24 trees per hectare, that is 10 trees per acre. At that tree density, it would take 170 hectares or 425 acres to produce about 10,000 kg or 10 tons of nuts. In other words, it takes about 4200 trees to produce 10 tons of whole dried nuts.

While that seems like a lot of land, there are 250 acres per square kilometer, 640 acres per square mile. So it takes less than a square mile of shea grove at 10 trees per acre to produce the 10 tons.

Survey Suggestions

Can you estimate

1) the tree density and
2) the size of a square in kilometers that might be tapped?

Shea Butter Benefits

Shea butter, an ingredient increasingly found in American and European lotions and soaps, comes from nuts found only in Africa. The Shea Belt runs through much of West Africa, particularly Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and Togo.

Used as cooking fat, skin treatment and ceremonial ointment in Africa, and as an additive to chocolate in Europe, shea butter may find its most profitable use yet on the American cosmetic market. A powerful moisturizer, shea butter can also protect and heal skin.

Shea derivative products contain chemicals with a range of therapeutic benefits, including ultra-violet protection, moisturizing, regenerative, anti-eczema, and anti-wrinkle properties, according to a report issued by WATH. The article starts at the bottom right of page 1 and continues on to page 2.