Disappearing trees
Shea trees take 15 to 20 years to bear fruit. The Global Shea Alliance estimates that about eight million trees are lost every year to farming and population pressure.
Shea
Shea supports millions of rural women, yet trees are disappearing and value is lost between middlemen. Sankora helps women's groups, cooperatives and buyers regenerate parklands, pay collectors better and add value to their butter.
Shea
Women's gold of the savannah
According to the Global Shea Alliance, about 16 million women collect or process shea nuts. The tree grows wild in 21 African countries, from Senegal to South Sudan.
Shea butter is used in food, chocolate and cosmetics. Women collect the nuts, then boil, dry, shell, roast and pound them.
In Côte d'Ivoire, the sector is concentrated in the north and centre-north and run overwhelmingly by women. Since 2025 it has been regulated by the Cotton, Cashew and Shea Council, which sets a minimum farm-gate price.
≈ 16 millionwomen collect or process sheaSource: Enhanced Integrated Framework, Where's the money in shea? (2021, Global Shea Alliance data)
21African countries where shea growsSource: Enhanced Integrated Framework, Where's the money in shea? (2021, Global Shea Alliance data)
≈ 40%of the world's shea nuts come from NigeriaSource: NEPC (Nigeria), Shea nut profile
Where it is grown in Africa
Africa's shea belt
Shea grows in the savannahs of West and Central Africa. Production statistics remain limited, as the harvest is mostly wild.
NigeriaWorld's largest producer of shea nuts.
MaliWorld's second producer according to NEPC (2019).
Burkina FasoMajor producer with many women's groups.
GhanaLeading exporter of shea nuts (FAO, 2007 to 2017).
Côte d'IvoireSector regulated since 2025 by the CCA-K, in the north.
BeninWomen's cooperatives active in hundreds of villages.
TogoProducer and processor of shea butter.
The value chain's challenges
What threatens shea and the women who collect it
Prices and market access
Collectors bear price swings and often sell through several middlemen. Part of the value never reaches them.
Storage and equipment
A lack of storage and equipment limits quality and forces quick sales when prices are low. Better storage can raise women's earnings significantly.
Organisation and data
Many groups are informal and volumes are poorly known. Buyers need reliable data on origin and quantities.
Butter quality
Butter quality depends on every step: drying the nuts, roasting, churning. Cosmetics and food buyers ask for consistent, documented lots.
What markets require
Nuts and butter of consistent quality (acidity, moisture, impurities), documented origin and working conditions of women, organic or fair trade certifications for cosmetics and food, and compliance with the minimum price where it exists, as in Côte d'Ivoire.
How Sankora helps you
How Sankora can help improve the shea value chain
Technology does not solve everything. Here is what Sankora can practically put in place in this value chain, with simple, reliable tools, to know the field better, track actions and prove results.
A register of women collectors and groups
Each collector is registered with her group and collection area. Buyers finally know where the nuts come from and how many women live from them.
Pay every woman in her own name
Each purchase of nuts or kernels is weighed and paid in the collector's name, in cash or by mobile money. Her sales history is kept.
Track group stocks
Warehouse entries and exits are recorded: the group knows what it has in stock and can sell at the right time rather than in a hurry.
Follow young shea tree planting
Young seedlings and protected trees are located and followed year after year: parkland regeneration programmes can show their results.