Shea tree value chain tapped for women’s livelihood enhancement

The Shea Integrated Global Foundation, (SIGF) has launched a women’s development project aimed to harness the shea tree value chain for women’s livelihood enhancement.

Priscilla Nwosu, a co-host of the foundation, speaking to journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said the project would offer support to women who had no access to proper market or knowledge to leverage the available natural resources such as shea.

According to her, the project titled “conservation and livelihood improvement of women through shea tree value-chain development’, would create market opportunities for Nigerian women to thrive.

“The project is not aimed only at empowering women in shea butter production to improve their livelihood, but also to conserve the environment where the trees are planted.

“The goal is to create a sustainable livelihood for 200 women within the project time frame through sales of shea kernels and butter.

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“Through the project, we will train women on various activities ranging from shea processing to promoting global best standards and establish parameters for carbon sequestration within 12 months.”

Speaking further, Nwosu said that the project would cover at least 10 kilometres of wild parkland in Arikiya community in Nasarawa State to create a sustainable model for environmental conservation.

Speaking, Ibironke Olubamise, the national coordinator for the Global Environmental Facility Small Grant Programme (GEF/SGP), of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the project would ensure sustainable shea production and economic gains from the value chain.

According to her, the project would also create a platform to address environmental issues which is a great challenge globally.

“We at UNDP are interested in the project because it will create a sustainable model for environmental conservation.

“We are providing $50,000 funding for the project and it is also part of an effort to address issues of climate change as it will reduce the need to cut down trees in our environment.”