Shea Butter talk at the Global Shea Alliance Conference, Accra – 2016

My focus for the next few days. #shea2016

A photo posted by Natural Nigerian™?? (@naturalnigerian) on Mar 21, 2016 at 4:15am PDT

Seeing as I have now changed industry, I was glad to be able to find the time to attend an important conference in my new industry. The Ninth Annual Global Shea Alliance Conference was held in Accra, Ghana from the 21st of March till the 23rd of March, 2016. It was a very educative, enjoyable and insightful few days. I knew that not everyone would have made it there, but there was a lot to gain, so I tried to capture it in pictures, on my Instagram account. If you follow the hashtag #nninghana, you will find all my pictures about the conference and my trip. The highlights for me were:


 

 

A photo posted by Natural Nigerian™?? (@naturalnigerian) on Mar 21, 2016 at 4:20am PDT

• • • The President of Ghana, coming for the conference, by himself (no representative). He was on time – no African time. He was awake through it all. He was able to reel out facts and figures about the Shea Industry. He appeared not to have any prepared speech but spoke eloquently all the same. I was so impressed.

 

 

Lunch is served at the conference. #shea2016 #naturalnigerian #shea #sheabutter

 

A photo posted by Natural Nigerian™?? (@naturalnigerian) on Mar 22, 2016 at 7:19am PDT

• • • Meeting so many people, from different countries all over the world, that had one thing or other to do with the Shea value chain.

 

G O A L S #nninghana #naturalnigerian #shea2016 #shea #sheabutter #tamale #ghana

A photo posted by Natural Nigerian™?? (@naturalnigerian) on Mar 23, 2016 at 10:11am PDT

• Journey to Tamale, in northern Ghana to see how an EcoCert certified producing plant runs.

 

One of the things that struck me was a speaker who noted that the relationship between the increased interest in Shea and the continued poverty of the women who collects the nuts and process them is not at par. They remain in poverty even while more buyers come into the market. #naturalnigerian #shea2016 #nninghana

A photo posted by Natural Nigerian™?? (@naturalnigerian) on Mar 21, 2016 at 10:06am PDT

• Hearing/Learning first hand what the challenges to the industry are. One can only right what one knows are wrongs. One of these challenges is the traditional belief in some areas that new Shea trees should not be planted. Another is the fair compensation and safety for the women who are in the forefront of picking these nuts and churning out the hand crafted butter.

 

Madam Fati Paul. Clearly quality pays. Sharp practices wouldn't have seen her maintain that relationship for 20+ years. #nninghana #naturalnigerian #ghana #tamale #bodyshop #shea2016 #sheabutter #shea

A video posted by Natural Nigerian™?? (@naturalnigerian) on Mar 24, 2016 at 2:42am PDT

A bonus, was meeting Madam Fati Paul who has been a Shea Butter supplier to The Body Shop for 22 years. (Click on the picture to watch short video)

I wish I had gotten to see a bit more of the town but what I saw of Tamale and Accra pleased me. In many ways, I think that Africa is a country (at least West Africa) and this was re-emphasized for me in many ways.

I applaud the GSA for a good conference and look forward to attending the next one and the next one.