USAID to support Nigeria’s Shea industry
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has revealed plans to support the development of the Shea industry in Nigeria through the wide network of Global Shea Alliance; another USAID initiative for the Shea sector.
Kathy Body, Acting Deputy Mission Director of the American Aid organisation in Nigeria, made this known at the 2015 Shea conference in Abuja, where she stated that “USAID|NIGERIA recognises that a stronger Nigerian role in the global Shea market will particularly benefit rural Nigerian women.”
“Thousands of women are engaged in picking and processing of Shea in rural communities across 21 states in Nigeria, improving the standard of production can lead to poverty reduction as the demand for Shea butter in increasing in the international market,” she stated.
Shea is a major commodity in the cosmetic industry and it was recently approved by regulatory authorities in Europe to have five percent content of Shea in chocolate, thereby astronomically increasing the global demand for Shea.
Nigeria is a major producer of Shea with the Shea nut trees growing wildly in 21 states across the country but the Shea is mostly smuggled out of the country without any value addition, therefore stripping the country of the immense economic benefit of the commodity.
“USAID believes that together, we can help Nigeria’s Shea industry to take advantage of the business opportunities that exist for this commodity,” stated Body stated, adding that “the U.S. is committed to supporting sustainable, broad-based economic growth in Nigeria.”
“We believe that Nigeria’s agricultural sector will be the key area for that growth.”
“We are very proud of our support to the Global Shea Alliance that today has more than 350 members today and spans the entire industry. The number of Alliance members is not nearly as important as the women’s groups who collect Shea; the exporters of Shea nuts and Shea butter in Nigeria and Africa, or the world’s leading specialty companies that use Shea in their products including global candy and beauty products.”
Appealing to practitioners in the Shea sector, the USAID|NIGERIA Director urged the need for a standard procedure of processing to enable the marketability of Nigeria’s Shea appropriately at the right value.
“The Shea industry has been growing, but further growth is possible, particularly if you in the industry can create the economies of scale in production and marketing that will allow producers to add more value to their goods.” She stated.
“Producers need to be able to take advantage of regional and global markets, and process their products where it makes the most sense. I encourage you to be persistent in your efforts to build a stronger and more competitive Shea industry” Body concluded.
The two-day conference which had the theme, Shea Conference: A Concerted Renaissance was organised by the USAID|NIGERIA Expanded Trade and Transport (NEXTT) project in collaboration with Shea Origin and the National Shea Products Association of Nigeria (NASPAN).