World Vision Using Shea Butter To Improve Livelihoods In Garu-Tempane

World Vision Ghana (WVG) under its Food Security and Resilience Project model on Shea Butter Processing in the Kpikpira, Gagbire, and Wonrigaya communities in the Garu and Tempane districts of the Upper East Region have improved the livelihoods of 600 households.

The project which started in 2014 has supported over 600 women in shea butter production for domestic use and exports as an alternative source of livelihood that has curb rural-urban migration of women to the south in search of menial jobs.

According to WVG, data from the Garu-Tempane district between November 2013 and April 2014, 53 percent of women from the two communities migrated with their children to the south to do menial jobs which also exposed their children to various forms of abuse.

Bawku Cluster AP Manager, Bugre Rexford said, Kpikpira and Gagbire communities are provided with shea butter processing centers by World Vision Ghana to produce shea butter, soap-making, and pomade on a large scale for both domestic use and exports.

He added that 2,686 comprising 1,312 boys and 1,372 girls educational and health needs are being cared for by beneficiaries of the shea butter project.

They formed three cooperatives registered with the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), Shea Network Ghana and lined with Vision Fund and BESSFA Rural bank to access credit to increase their shea butter production.

Speaking to Citi News at the Kpikpira, some beneficiaries said, the shea butter production program has been a game changer in caring for the children and supporting their families.

Issah Kondug said, “the shea butter programme has helped me to pay my children school fees, pay books and school uniforms for them and also support the family.”

“We use to travel to the mining sites to do illegal mining because there are jobs here particularly in the dry season but because of the shea butter production project, we now earn some money from there to care for our children and families” Abukari Abena stated.

Lamisi Avoka added that “I use to seek financial support from people who will disappoint me after narrating my story which made me feel bad. But with this shea butter project, I can now earn some money to support my children and family.”

The shea butter groups also want the Garu and Tempane District assemblies to facilitate a ready market for their products abroad.

A spokesperson for the Chief of Kpikpira, Ali Yaro commended WVG for the intervention saying that “the era where their wives will leave for the south with their children in search of menial jobs and being exposed to various forms of abuse has significantly reduced."