YOUNG AFRICAN in AMERICA
Shea It Is So!

By Robtel Neajai Pailey
WI Assistant Editor
Thursday, June 8, 2006

Equipped with an undergraduate degree in international relations, Ghanaian-American Rahama Wright followed in her father’s footsteps and joined the Peace Corps right after college in 2002. Little did she know that four years later, she’d be an advocate for fair trade between West African women shea butter producers and consumers elsewhere in the so-called “developed world.”

In college, she learned about the structural inequities people in developing countries face. This “fueled my passion to work to make a difference in many of these communities, particularly in Africa ,” said Wright. She wanted to make concrete use of her academic training and she has.

Wright founded Shea Yeleen International (SYI) in March 2003 to serve shea butter producers in gaining access to better production techniques and markets that offer competitive wages for the finished product, a creamy solid oil with medicinal and healing qualities. Shea butter is proven to slow down the effects of aging and act as a natural barrier against skin damage. It is also used for skin ailments including, but not limited to: muscle aches, rheumatism, burns, rashes, eczema, and skin discoloration.

SYI sells the premium quality shea butter to clients in markets outside of West Africa , thereby providing easier access to an earned income for all women involved in the shea butter cooperatives it serves. As shea butter increases in global popularity among cosmetics users, the fight for an equal share of the economic pie for its producers has become a rallying cry for Wright.

Often times, large companies and big businesses make a huge profit by purchasing shea butter at lower prices and selling it to consumers at a higher price, admitted Wright, who has been involved in shea butter marketing research over the years. “Although the demand for shea butter has grown, there has been little growth in the income of rural shea butter producers, and those supplying the market tend to be companies that process the shea butter in large production facilities in Europe and then supply it to buyers in the global market,” Wright said, alluding to the overall free market wheeling and dealing that leaves local agri-business producers at a disadvantage.

Often referred to as “women’s gold,” shea butter is the final product in a long line of laborious production. One of the first steps is pounding the kernels into loose grains, after which the grains are roasted and crushed in a millet grinder to produce a pasty substance. The substance is then mixed with hot and cold water and kneaded until the shea oil separates from the combination and rises to the top of the mixture. Heat is applied and the oil is extracted and purified. And voila, shea butter!

Because the process of producing shea butter is so labor intensive and time consuming, Wright is most interested in building a centralized production plant in Mali to lessen the burden of the sheer physicality of harvesting buckets full of hard-shelled, brown nuts from the Karite nut tree found in West and East Africa.

As a health care volunteer in Mali , Wright was flabbergasted when a Malian mother asked for advice about providing nutritional meals to her children without money. Speechless and taken aback by the question, Wright vowed to figure out what it would take to cultivate the kind of financial savvy that the young woman wanted so desperately.

She said, “One solution is creating micro enterprises that can sustain the lives of those in the most need because women living in poverty have skills conducive to successful business: they tackle life with ingenuity, tenacity, and an overwhelming ability to adapt to uncertainty.”

Wright believes that consumer education is the key to changing the imbalance in power between shea producers and big businesses. And Blacks all across the continent and within the Diaspora—among the highest consumers of shea—could play a pivotal role in Black-on-Black business collaboration.

So what’s next for SYI and Wright? The organization is attempting to secure funds to support its mission while casting a wide net to include producers throughout Africa . “We plan to spread the word on our work and gain consumer support,” concluded Wright, who trekked to Sudan and Eastern Africa to scope out the potential for future collaborations between West African women producers of shea butter and other like-minded entrepreneurs.

As far as Wright is concerned, the only way to go is forward for SYI. Her tenacity and drive encourage the women to keep at it, no doubt. But it is Wright who admits to being moved to action. “I am inspired by individuals who against all odds fight to make a difference. The women I work with inspire me, because even though each day is filled with challenges, they still believe in and work towards a better future,” she said.

SYI is sponsoring a fundraising dinner at Teatro Goldoni in Northwest D.C. on June 28. Proceeds will go to building a shea butter production facility in Dio , Mali . Call 202/203-0024 for tickets. Visit www.sheayeleen.org for more information about Shea Yeleen International.

 

Robtel Neajai Pailey, Informer assistant editor, can be reached at rpailey@washingtoninformer.com.