Skip to content

Hands of gold – shea butter farmers

Upper East Ghana, Africa

Shea butter is in demand. Yet the women who produce it make very little money. What’s more, poor working conditions mean many of them are not fit to work by their 40s. So, what can we do? We’ve documented the current situation to galvanise support from those who can help. We will contribute our occupational safety and health (OSH) expertise while working alongside our partners to make these women’s lives safer and healthier.

A female worker using a large stone to grind shea butter nuts

Shea butter production forms the basis of work for the women in North Ghana, specifically those in the Upper East territory. The end product is a high-value, in-demand range of oils used as an ingredient in cooking and also within the beauty industry. But the women retain little of its value.

The farmers produce the butter by hand, grinding nuts, washing nut powder, and cooking the mush in home-based settings with no power or running water. They conduct these manual processes in heat approaching 50-degrees centigrade.

It is common for women to die of heat exposure, including those pregnant aborting mid-term due to the unborn child experiencing heat stress. Lactating mothers may also develop chronic mastitis. Longer term, many workers develop musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), in particular shoulder joint issues

Many of these women are not fit to work by the time they reach their 40s, though they continue to do so with significant injury or illness. Work-related sickness means the women can't feed their families, they need to remove girls from school due to lack of money and broad malnutrition. 

These are based on the risk assessment recommendations for a safer and healthier working life for the shea butter workers and include both short- and long-term targets. You can download the risk assessment at the bottom of this page.

Provide workers with the tools and facilities to conduct their work in a safe and healthy way.

Support the workers and community to make the transition from informal to formal economy. 

Promote opportunities for marketing the products to attract formal, international buyers to increase reach, interest and potential for high-value orders.  

Educate and train the workers on the hazards and risks of their working practices and explain how these can be avoided.  

Raise awareness and gain support from partners, governments and interested parties to help workers change their current way of working through investment, training and provision of safety supplies. 

"The crushing part is very difficult for us because our hands and shoulders really hurt. Sometimes you accidentally hit your finger and you can't continue working."

Ayane

Job role
Assistant chairwoman and farmer
Company
Shea Butter Co-operative

Who is involved

  • International Labour Organization (ILO)
  • United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
  • International Social Security Association (ISSA)
  • Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC)
  • Commonwealth Business Women Africa (CBW-Africa)
  • Government of Ghana
  • Embassy of Germany
  • Rotary Club
  • Shea butter farmers and textile weavers
  • UK High Commission Ghana
  • IOSH consultants
  • Local IOSH members

US $92.6 million (38,792 tonnes) – that's how much the export of shea butter was estimated to be worth in 2022

Source: Ghana Export Promotion Authority

  1. Risk assessment: July 2023

    Local OSH experts and IOSH members have conducted an impartial risk assessment to assess the current conditions.

  2. Co-operative: March 2024

    • Formed a co-operative, Lana Empire Africa, bringing the women into the formal economy.
    • Lana Empire Africa gained Food and Drug Administration approval for their products, opening new markets with better prices. Shipments are already on the way across Africa and to Europe.

  3. Funding bids: April 2024

    Investors can now see how Lana Empire Africa can supply factory settings and machinery, enabling the co-operative to submit funding applications.

  4. Move to formal economy: September 2024

    The women have transitioned to the formal economy and co-operatives have been registered through the Food and Drug Administration approval process. This means they are able sell their products and can quantify the quality to local and international markets at better price points.

  5. New buyers: September 2024

    They have attracted formal buyers, meaning the possibility of receiving large, high-value orders is now a reality.​ 

  6. Factory funding: November 2024

    A shea butter factory has been funded and is currently being built.

Female worker stirs a pot containing the shea butter mush

Next steps

Keep your eye out for updates. New films documenting progress are coming in 2025.

We welcome your support in helping people stay safe at work. It can change the lives of the most vulnerable workers. Find out more about these projects and the work we are doing.