Selling shea nuts is how many women in Mali and Burkina Faso earn a living. The women gather the shea nuts themselves. Income is uncertain and season-dependent. But thanks to a public-private partnership, more and more women entrepreneurs in these countries have extra sources of income.
In Mali and Burkina Faso, gathering and selling shea nuts is traditionally women's work. Women have organised themselves into cooperatives. Together, they supply their nuts to the French company OLVEA, and others. These companies turn the nuts into shea butter, a popular ingredient in cosmetics. OLVEA was looking for a way to increase the quality of the shea nuts and provide greater income security for the women. To achieve this, it launched 'She Sells Shea' in 2014, a public-private partnership (PPP) with the local government and the development organisation ICCO.
Year-round income
She Sells Shea teaches the female entrepreneurs how to cultivate sesame plants and moringa. OLVEA can process the seeds from these crops into edible oil. These crops also have a different growing and harvesting season to the karité, the tree that grows shea nuts. This allows the women to earn money all year round. It increases their income and they are less vulnerable to financial difficulties or crop failures due to climate change. The female entrepreneurs are also given training to improve their crops, so they get a higher price. Partly due to She Sells Shea's efforts, the price has already increased due to the fair-trade and organic certification of their nuts. The female entrepreneurs learn how they can use the 3 crops for consumption, allowing them to increase their food security.
Successful investments
Thanks to the PPP, 31,000 women in Mali and Burkina Faso have seen their income increase. Half of all successful investments in She Sells Shea come from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via its Facility for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Food Security (FDOV). The other half comes mainly from OLVEA, as well as from ICCO and smaller She Sells Shea partners.
More information
You can learn more about She Shells Shea by watching the video. Would you like to contribute to sustainable objectives in developing countries through a public-private partnership? The FDOV scheme is now closed, but you can get support via the SDG Partnership Facility when it is open for applications.