Of all the countries of the African shea zone, Burkina Faso is most popularly identified with the shea tree, known in French as karité, which occurs across more than 80% of the country. Sheanut constituted the second largest export product for Burkina Faso during the 1980s.

A wide variety of institutions are involved with the shea filière, including government ministries, non-governmental organizations, a number of highly-organized producer groups, and a range of traders and exporting companies of all sizes. Of all the producer countries of the African shea zone, technical and commercial development of the shea resource has been furthest advanced in Burkina Faso.

Despite considerable advances in productivity and product development, and a well-developed national market, exports of sheanut greatly exceed exports of shea butter, keeping profit margins higher for international industry, with returns to producers at minimum.

While some producer groups and traders have accessed higher-end cosmetic niches, product quality and consistency of supply remain limiting factors.

Technical Development

Technical development in Burkina Faso began in the 1950s, with a long series of press designs developed by GTZ, later by SNV, with support from TOOL and the Netherlands Royal Tropical Institute. However, no single press design has been widely accepted, a function of the high stearin (hard fat) levels in the product. Shea butters from the eastern and central African ranges are significantly higher in olein (oil) fraction, making it much easier to press. New methods of improved processing have been developed which incorporate a semi-mechanised process of ‘kneading’ (maxillage) to work the fat from the sheanut paste.

Production and Marketing

Commercial development in Burkina Faso has become well-developed in recent years, and awareness of the value of the resource at the national level is certainly the highest in the region. Until the shea sector was liberalised in1992, the market was controlled by the Caisse de Stabilisation des Prix des Produits Agricoles (CSPPA). State control of the shea sector is generally credited with having distorted market conditions, with a clearly negative general impact on product quality.

A number of Burkinabè institutions are very active in shea production, commercialization and marketing. Unfortunately, there is a high degree of perceived competition between these institutions, and a tendency for each to play down the accomplishments and capacities of the ‘competition.’ There is a corresponding tendency for some institutions to claim grand results with little detail provided in justification, while much work clearly remains to be done on the ground on many aspects of production management for product quality control, commercialization and marketing.

The greatest challenge lies in organising coordinated and concerted action above partisan concerns, in order to bring together national stakeholders of the shea filière in a tangible (and long-term sustainable) structure, and to establish common standards for product quality and product certification.

The following is a summary of the current activities of the most active Burkinabè institutions working with the shea resource:

CECI- Burkina

Since its first work on shea in 1995, CECI has emerged as the preeminent institution in the West African sub-region in terms of shea production development and commercialization.

CECI’s work on shea development is characterized by a stakeholder-centered approach, with a focus on the capacities of rural producers, producer groups and marketing associations. CECI is currently working with more than 60 producer groups, with a total membership of over 10,000 women producers.

Among the better-established marketing associations (or unions des groupements) are the the Union Nationale de Groupements Kiswendsida (UGK), the Union Faso karité, the Collectif des Associations Productrices du Beurre de karité et Autres Produits (CAPBK/AP), the Union des Groupements de Productrices de Produits karité des Provinces de la Sissili et du Ziro, and the Union des Groupements de Productrices de Produits karité dans la Provence de Houet.

Originally established in 1986 and registered in 1992, the UGK produced 200 MT of shea butter in 1997, of which 80 MT was exported. Established in 1994, the CAPBK/AP produced and sold 42 MT of shea butter in 1998; with a total membership of over 2000 rural women, total production capacity was estimated at 252 MT per year.

In partnership with these institutions, CECI has developed marketing channels for its affiliated production groups. This year 60 MT of shea butter was purchased directly from producer groups by the French company l’Occitane and refined by SN CITEC for export.

Projet d’Appui aux Filières Bio-Alimentaires (PAF)

The Projet d’Appui aux Filières Bio-Alimentaires (PAF) began in 1999, with funding from CIDA/ACDI. Though many of the activities undertaken by PAF were originally initiated by CECI with support from UNIFEM from 1997-99, ACDI determined that CECI’s assistance in formulating the PAF concept and program design precluded CECI’s involvement as implementing agency, due to a perceived ‘conflict of interest.’ Accordingly, PAF was awarded to a consortium of three other Canadian institutions: l’Union des Producteurs Agricoles Développement International (UPOA-DI), the engineering consultancy firm TECSULT, and the innovative credit facility Développement International Desjardins (DID).

On shea, PAF works on structuration the filière, on training of stakeholders on professional aspects of management, on establishment of a market information system, and to encourage investment in the shea sector.

In February 2000, PAF was instrumental in the establishment of the Table Filière karité, a framework for concertation of all the stakeholders of the Burkinabè shea filière. The TFK meets regularly, and has developed a 3-year Strategic Plan to improve market access for shea products of Burkinabè origin (Badini 2000).

Projet National karité (PNK)

The Projet National karité (PNK) was established under the Ministère de la Promotion de la Femme through the Secértariat Permanent des Engagements Nationaux, a presidential task force formed in 1995 to mitigate the challenges resulting from the devaluation of the CFA. The goal of the project is to intensify the production and commercialisation of shea products in order to enhance the economic position of rural women, specifically through improvement of processing technologies, product quality control, and reinforcement of the international and domestic reputation of Burkina shea products following a perceived decline in quality during government intervention in the shea sector during the1980s.

Project activities include establishment and technical training of rural women’s production groups (groupements villageois féminins or GVF), the diffusion of improved processing technologies, adult education in basic literacy and numeracy, access to credit for the GVF, and local outreach through a system of Centres Promotion Féminine (CPF). Currently 1340 rural producer groups in 21 provinces. According to project documents, 17,000 women have already been trained in production of quality sheanut, 2,500 women trained in improved processing technologies.

From 1999-2003, the project has been supported by the governments of Taiwan (74%), Canada (10%) and Burkina Faso (16%), to a total of CFA 1,353,476,950 (or about US$2,000,000). Funding for an extension of the PNK is currently sought, but as yet the extension of the project beyond 2003 is not yet assured.

Centre Ecologique Albert Schweitzer (CEAS)

CEAS has been working on aspects of processing and marketing of shea products since 1993, and is currently at the end of a two year project to provide technical support to improve the productivity of rural producer groups of Burkina Faso and Mali.

Institut de Recherche en Sciences Appliqées et Technologiques (IRSAT)

IRSAT is one of four specialised institutions under the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CNRST) of the Ministère des Enseignements Secondaire, Superieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (MESSRS).

Under the direction of Dr. Rigobert Yaméogo, IRSAT has developed improved processing technology for shea butter extraction and post-extraction processing. IRSAT maintains a laboratory of exceptional capacity, which is the legally designated analytical facility to certify shea product quality in Burkina Faso.

The IRSAT laboratory facilities include equipment for testing of standard quality parameters (moisture content, free fatty acid index / FFA, peroxide index, iodine index, saponification value, unsaponifiable content and impurity content), as well as more sophisticated equipment for atomic absorption spectrometry, gas and liquid chromatography, Lovibond color analysis and microbiological analysis.

Industry

The Burkinabè shea sector is very well-developed, with numerous traders, exporters and producers of edible shea butter and cosmetic products, as well as a refinery (SN-CITEC) of considerable scale and capacity.

The following women’s groups and marketing associations are major producers of sheanut and shea butter, marketing their products both nationally and internationally.

Other Institutions

Burkina Faso Discussion Group