Sheanut processing centre, warehouse inaugurated at Gizaa Gundaa

About 600 women engaged in the collection of shea nuts in Gizaa Gundaa in the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region have been provided with a processing centre and a warehouse to enable them to increase their production and incomes.

The women previously relied on the cumbersome traditional methods of processing the raw shea into butter that often led to low output and revenues.

The new facility was constructed by the Presbyterian Agricultural Services, in partnership with the government, Global Shea Alliance (GSA), Perfectly Posh and Savanna Fruits Company with support from the United States government through United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Significance

The United States Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Stephanie S. Sullivan, who inaugurated the facility last Thursday, said it was one of the 34 processing centres and warehouses project the USAID and GSA had launched with cooperatives across the country over the past three years.

She said upon completion of the entire project, it is expected to benefit about 30,000 women involved in the collection and processing of the shea in beneficiary communities.

According to Ms Sullivan, the initiative was also to support President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s vision of promoting “Ghana Beyond Aid” through a sustainable partnership between Ghanaian and US businesses and entrepreneurs.

The ambassador further expressed the hope that the facility would help to develop the shea industry in the area to improve on the welfare of women as she also pledged the United States continued support to Ghana.

Appreciation

The Chief Director of the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), Alhaji Issahaku Alhassan, expressed appreciation to the Government of the US for its support  in the promotion of the shea industry which, he said, was a source of livelihood for most women in the northern part of the country.

On behalf of her colleagues, the President of Yurilim Women’s Shea Cooperative, Ms Zainabu Abdulai, also thanked the U.S. and its partners for providing them with the facility.