Coca-Cola, IGEC launch climate-smart Shea butter processing facility in Oyo

The Initiative for Gender Empowerment and Creativity (IGEC), which was created to inspire creativity and empower vulnerable women, has unveiled its Climate Smart Shea processing facility project funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation.

The project, funded through a grant awarded by the Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF), the philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company is focused on supporting rural community women who make a living through farming and trade in the Shea butter value chain in Tede community of Oyo State.

“The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF) is deeply committed to improving lives and creating a better-shared future for its host communities. 2020 was a challenging year that taught us more about how to adapt to new realities in the face of a harsh economic situation,” said Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, the director, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability, Coca-Cola.

Onyemelukwe in expressing her faith in the implementing partners, IGEC, to deliver beyond expectations, emphasized the economic opportunities the facility presented to the women of Tede community. “We are confident that this grant that has been awarded to IGEC will go a long way in economically empowering the women in the Tede community,” she said.

The Climate Smart Shea processing facility project offers women in less privileged communities a competitive edge in shea butter production while providing economic opportunities for the community at large.

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Ekuma Eze, the director, Public Affairs and Communications, Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) said there is no better time to unveil the project, as the company celebrates its 70 years of doing business in Nigeria.

“we are deeply excited at the huge impact the project will have on the community and the economy. The Climate Smart Shea Processing Facility offers unprecedented economic opportunities and inclusion for the women,” said Eze.

Shea butter production is known as a major preoccupation of the rural dwellers in Tede community and most of the Shea processors are women, often without formal education. Over the years, these Shea processors have relied on crude techniques that are often time-consuming and physically demanding.

As part of efforts to support sustainable community initiatives around the world, TCCF awarded this grant to IGEC, an NGO that has sought to alleviate poverty through economic empowerment in less privileged communities. The project, which runs through 2021, birthed the establishment of the Climate Smart Shea processing facility in Tede community.

Olasunmbo Adeleke, the executive director, Initiative for Gender Empowerment and Creativity (IGEC), lauded the financial support from TCCF, reflecting on the positive impact the project will have on the community.

“At IGEC, we are very honoured to receive the grant towards the establishment of the Climate Smart Shea Processing Facility which will empower women and youth in Tede Community. With the establishment of this facility, there are now huge economic opportunities for women in this community in Shea butter production,” said Adeleke.