African Natural Health Products

Alaffia Fair Trade Shea Butter

Posted by Health Africa on March 12, 2008.

Fair trade means paying a fair price or wage in the local context, providing equal employment opportunities, engaging in environmental sustainable practices, providing healthy and safe working conditions, being open to public accountability, and reducing the number of middlemen between producers and consumers. Fair trade is environmentally, economically and culturally sustainable and gives local communities the opportunity to self empower.

Unrefined shea butter is a valuable natural resource for West Africa and could be an important tool in empowering local communities. However, most shea butter on the market in the United States and Europe is not fairly traded. The women who gather shea nuts and hand craft this remarkable oil receive only a tiny fraction of the final price.

It is estimated to take 20 to 30 hours of labor to produce one kilogram of handcrafted shea butter, which is traded at $1 or less in today’s market. A woman making shea butter in West Africa will receive only a fraction of this price. Therefore, a person working for 30 hours, almost a week’s worth of work, will not receive even a dollar for her efforts. Even if she received the whole dollar, this does not even begin to reach living wage standards.

Through Alaffia’s direct involvement in the entire process — from gathering the wild shea nuts and crafting the butter, to distribution locally and abroad — our members receive fair and steady incomes. In addition, 10% of sales go directly back to the community in the form of community enhancement projects, AIDS and malaria outreach, and educational scholarships.

Gathering Shea Nuts is very labour intensive and is usually not factored into the final price.