Cocoa, shea sectors undergo transformation

Ghanaian cocoa farmers will soon power their farm equipment with fuel from shea nuts as the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) unveils ground-breaking research that promises to revolutionise both the shea and cocoa industries. 

In a major scientific breakthrough, the board has reportedly reduced shea trees' maturation time from 35 years to just 3 years, paving the way for commercial shea cultivation alongside cocoa farming. 

The innovation establishes a potential self-sustaining energy ecosystem where shea-derived biofuel could support cocoa production operations.

Addressing the media at the prize presentation ceremony for the National Best Cocoa Farmer and Shea Farmer of the Year, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, said the board had oversight responsibility in the shea sector and was, therefore, committed to supporting farmers in that sector as well.

“Previously when a shea fruit sprouts, it takes about 35 to 40 years for it to fruit.

So the gestation period would have been 35 to 40 years but through research, we have been able to shorten that gestation period to three years.

“Now when you go to Boli, our station, we now have a plantation. You know, just like we have a cocoa plantation, we now have a 20-acre shea plantation,” he stated.

He said COCOBOD had also established a nursery that was generating planting materials such as seedlings for farmers to grow. 

“We want to encourage farmers in the north to go into commercial shea farming. Instead of collecting the fruits in the wild, we want them to enter into shea commercial farming,” he added.

Biodiesel

The CEO said in anticipation of a bumper harvest due to the new interventions, COCOBOD once again embarked on another research to convert the shea into biodiesel to power the cocoa industry.

He said that would not only support the cocoa industry but also ensure that the prices of shea do not collapse as a result of the bumper harvest.

“Our research has indicated that the biodiesel from shea is far better and more efficient than the fossil fuel. And what they have compares favourably with premix fuel.

“And you know, all the machines that we use on cocoa farms, from the spraying machine, slasher machine, to the pruner machine, they all use premix so we are going to integrate the shea industry with that of the cocoa industry,” he stated.

Production target 

Mr Boahen Aidoo said in the medium term, COCOBOD was targeting not less than 10,000 metric tonnes of shea annually.

He said that was, however, subject to the availability of land.

“I want to believe, subject to access to land, every year we should be doing not less than 10,000 metric tonnes. We are generating over 100,000 seedlings a year so that should be possible.

“If the farmers can get access to land, there shouldn't be any problem at all for us to embark on this endeavour,” he said.

About shea

Shea trees have historically grown wild in Ghana's northern savannah regions, particularly in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions. 

It is usually collected by women from wild-growing trees in the savannah during the rainy seasons.

Shea has been a crucial source of income for rural women in northern Ghana.