Ghana is seeking to move more of its shea industry beyond the export of raw materials by equipping women and young people to produce, brand and market finished shea products for international markets.
The strategy will be at the centre of the 2026 World Shea Expo, scheduled for September 15 to 17 in Tamale, under the theme: “From Local Commodity to Global Brand: Accelerating Women and Youth-Led Value Addition in Shea.”
Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the Expo, Professor Abukari Alhassan, said the initiative was part of efforts to ensure that communities where shea was produced captured a greater share of the value generated along the industry’s supply chain.
Speaking at a press conference in Tamale, he said Ghana could no longer rely predominantly on the export of raw shea while higher-value activities such as product development, packaging, certification and branding were undertaken elsewhere.
Although the shea sector supports the livelihoods of millions of people, particularly rural women, he said producers continued to face limited access to modern processing technology, finance, quality assurance, certification, digital marketing and international markets.
He said closing those gaps would enable women who had traditionally been involved in shea collection, processing and trading to transition into manufacturers, exporters and owners of globally competitive brands.
Youth urged to embrace shea opportunities
Professor Alhassan also called for greater involvement of young people in the shea industry, saying the sector offered opportunities well beyond traditional processing and trading.
He said young entrepreneurs could develop businesses in areas such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, digital marketing, traceability and environmentally sustainable production.
He urged stakeholders to strengthen local capacity to develop finished products and innovative technologies capable of meeting international standards and competing in premium markets.
The Expo, spearheaded by Savannah Golden Tree, will bring together stakeholders including the Ghana Enterprises Agency, Ghana Shea Employers Association, Tree Crop Development Authority, Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Northern Development Authority, Northern Regional Coordinating Council and Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-Ghana).
Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang and Director of Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness, Dr Peter Boamah Otokunor, are among dignitaries expected to attend.
Linking conservation to economic opportunities
Professor Alhassan said research institutions were also exploring ways of connecting shea production with emerging environmental markets.
He said the University for Development Studies, in collaboration with King’s College London and the Global Shea Alliance, had developed a shea landscape biodiversity credit accreditation, monitoring and management platform with support from Innovate UK.
The platform, he said, was intended to improve the measurement and management of biodiversity and ecosystem benefits associated with shea landscapes while creating opportunities for smallholder farmers to participate in emerging carbon and biodiversity markets.
Project Manager of the World Shea Expo, Mr Eric Banye, said the 2025 edition demonstrated the growing international interest in Ghana’s shea sector.
He said the event attracted more than 8,000 participants from 16 countries, 136 exhibitors and 716 shea products, with women accounting for 82 per cent and youth 64 per cent of participants.
The Expo also recorded participation from 37 government agencies, 18 financial institutions, 94 diplomatic missions and development partners, eight academic and research institutions, 21 media houses and 512 SMEs, generating more than 10,000 business-to-business linkages.
Women seek greater control of industry
Executive Director of SWIDA-Ghana, Hajia Alima Sagito Saeed, said the Expo had created opportunities for rural women to build networks, share knowledge and improve their economic prospects.
She said women needed greater access to resources and land ownership to enable them to move from being participants in the shea value chain to becoming producers, decision-makers and leaders.
She urged continued investment in women’s capacity and ownership as Ghana sought to transform the shea sector into a globally competitive industry.
The government has also supported women in the five shea-producing regions with personal protective equipment, including Wellington boots and hand gloves, to improve safety in shea-related activities.
