The Business Of Shea™️

In December 2020, I traveled to Ghana, the world’s largest exporter of unrefined shea butter to begin filming  a documentary on the economic impact the production of shea butter has on the women in West Africa. As of March 18 2020, exports of shea butter from Ghana was valued at USD 66 million. 

My goal of the The Business Of Shea  documentary is to put a face with with the product, and a face with the process. By  sharing the women’s stories, my hope is that it will result in financial empowerment, broadening their supply chain. 

Right before we took the last  group picture and I payed the ladies for being in my documentary, I asked the ladies to sign their names. It never occurred to me that some of these women could not read or write.. At that moment this project became even more important to me. No one had ever asked for their signature before, some of them never had a reason to sign anything. Their husbands took care of all of their business affairs. Their husbands who now respect them more because they have money and can contribute to their household. Now they can have input, now they loan their husbands money, and there is less stress, and less domestic violence in the house. Hearing the impact the production of Shea butter has had on these women’s lives is amazing. I’m just honored to be a customer and have an opportunity to share their story. 

After they signed their names or drew their markings they smiled, and so did I. I learned one word in Dagbani, that is “Taa payaa” which means thank you. I was there to say thank you to these ladies. They have no clue how much they changed my life