Over 1,200 women have benefitted from the Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects having been trained in quality shea picking as part of the first phase of the Shea Empowerment Initiative (SEI), in the northern part of Ghana.

The SEI is a livelihood empowerment programme, meant to equip women in the shea value chain industry with best practices in shea picking and processing. The project is being undertaken by SEHP in partnership with Ghana EXIM Bank (GEXIM), under its Grassroot Initiative Development (GRID), designed to boost rural economies.

The first phase of the training focused on the safe picking of shea nuts, and effective quality shea kernel production.

The trainees were drawn from the Wa, Gushegu, West Mamprusi and Kassena Nankana municipalities in the Upper West, Northern, North East and Upper East Regions respectively. They are existing shea pickers who depend on shea picking as a source of livelihood.

Each trainee received safety and protective gears comprising; headlamps, hand gloves, and wellington boots to enable them safely pick the nuts. They also received head pans to help ease the collection of the nuts.

The second phase of the project will include the training of four hundred (400) shea processors and the commissioning of four (4) Shea processing factories.

Mr. Bright Evans Darko, Head of Business Development and Projects at EXIM Bank, Ghana (GEXIM), commended Her Excellency Samira Bawumia, Second Lady of Ghana, for putting together this project to provide sustainable livelihood support for beneficiary women in the shea value chain industry.

He stated that GEXIM would continue to support local initiatives that increase cross border trade and Ghana’s foreign direct investment.

SEHP is a not-for-profit organisation that has provided critical and timely interventions in the areas of health, education and women empowerment.