Profit efficiency and constraints analysis of shea butter industry: northern region of Ghana

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Region ◽  
Shea Butter ◽  
Profit Efficiency

scholarly journals Paɣiba Salma | Women's Gold

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eza J. Doortmont
Keyword(s):  
Social Space ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Safe Space ◽  
Shea Butter ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
Production Space ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future

Shea butter is a product traditionally made solely by women. The demand for this product in the world has grown drastically over the past decades and this has changed the production and production space of the commodity significantly.  Women’s Gold is an observational film, telling the story of the shea butter processing women of Tampe-Kukuo, a community on the outskirts of Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region in Ghana. This documentary investigates ideas of social space, dignity and gaining more than material independence, connected to the shea butter industry. The growing demand in the west means bigger productions, exporting the butter and growing profit, but it also means that the sole women-safe space is not guaranteed for the future.

Rethinking the Agency of Women in the Shea Industry

Politeia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abiba Yayah
Keyword(s):  
Rural Women ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Good Source ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Home Based

The agency of women in most African countries is often affected by the socio-economic and political policies that are almost always disadvantageous to women, especially women who have little to no knowledge of their rights. Using the shea industry in Ghana as a case study, I chronicle the challenges as recounted by rural women involved in this home-based work in the Northern Region of Ghana and critically analyse these challenges and their implications. Focusing mainly on the results of my recent field work, I present some of the accounts relating to the lack and exclusion of recognition of and respect for the experiences of rural women who are in fact the linchpin of the shea industry in Ghana. Initiatives and strategies of non-governmental organisations and some governmental policies have attempted to address these challenges that have implications for the livelihoods of rural women. Research and policies have only offered “band-aid solutions” to the economic disempowerment of rural women in the shea industry in Ghana as they have not dealt with the causes. This article seeks to refute the claim that equity exists by indicating the lack of equity and justice in the policies in the shea industry. In an attempt to provide an understanding of the economic disempowerment of women in this industry, I consider my field work as a good source as it exposes the experiences and everyday practices as narrated by rural women in the industry. This article seeks to analyse the existing discourses especially those pertaining to the contributions and experiences of rural women in the shea industry.

Assessment of locally produced waxing materials on the shelf life and fruit quality of two tomato varieties (Solanum lycopersicum)

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-47
Author(s):  
R. Osae G. Essilfie J. O. Anim
Keyword(s):  
Shelf Life ◽  
Tomato Fruit ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Storage Period ◽  
Cassava Starch ◽  
Soluble Solids ◽  
Shea Butter ◽  
Tomato Fruits ◽  
Randomized Design ◽  
Colour Development

The study was conducted to assess the effect of different waxing materials on the quality attributes of tomato fruits. A 2 x8 factorial experiment layout in complete randomized design with 16 treatment combinations and 3 replication was adopted.The materials that were used for the experiment are two (2) varieties of tomatoes (Pectomech and Power Rano) and seven(7) waxing material (shea butter, cassava starch, beeswax, and a combination of shea butter + cassava starch, shea butter + beeswax, cassava starch + beeswax, shea butter + cassava starch + beeswax) and a control. Results from the experiment indicated that all waxing treatments delayed the development of weight loss, firmness, pH, total soluble solids, and total titrable acidity. The results also suggested that edible wax coatings delayed the ripening process and colour development of tomato fruits during the storage period and extended the shelf life. However Beewax treatment and its combinations performed better than the other treatments. It was therefore recommended that locally produced wax such as Beewax, Shea butter, Cassava Starch treatments and their combinations could be a good technology for preserving the quality and extending the shelf life of fresh tomato fruit as well as maintaining the physical and chemical properties.

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