Linking Shea Cooperatives to Markets in West Africa

Jan 13, 2021

By Geroldine Sicot, Regional Portfolio Manager for West Africa and Central Africa

Djaffo Mamatou, President of FNPK-Benin

Thinking about how to support women cooperatives in accessing new market opportunities? This blog post will give you some insights. Keep in mind two key figures — 73% and 27% — and read on!

Across shea-producing communities in Africa, women are organizing into cooperatives to collect shea fruits and transform them into kernels and butter. However, marketing their products has remained a challenge, with many of the cooperatives lacking the necessary skills to engage and interact with buyers directly.

Expressing her concerns, Mamatou Djaffo, the president of Fédération Nationale des Productrices de Karité du Bénin (FNPK-Benin), an alliance of 50,000 women shea collectors and butter processors from 55 cooperatives said, "What we do best is the processing. Now, what we want to learn is how to sell our products better." Cooperatives in Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali have expressed similar sentiments, underscoring improved contract negotiating and customer relationship management as key skills needed to enhance their businesses.
 

A Results-Driven Approach

To address the challenges faced by the shea-producing women cooperatives, USADF and the Global Shea Alliance (GSA) hosted a three-part market linkage webinar series to equip USADF grantees (both women cooperatives and technical partners) in Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali with the required tools to grow their businesses.

Forty-nine participants representing 20 organizations attended the webinar series which covered various topics, including shea market trends for the food and cosmetics industries, COVID-19's impact, and perspective on the upcoming season contract development negotiation.

As Mamatou Djaffo highlighted her gratitude for the training, she noted, "These webinars have given me a better understanding of buyer relations. As president of the National Association of Women Producers in Benin, I am now better equipped to sensitize women cooperatives on the importance of having quality products to establish long-term relationships with buyers."

The webinars also included a business-to-business (B2B) forum to facilitate direct interactions between cooperatives and buyers, establishing the grounds for trade discussions. Five buyers in attendance presented their operations and their purchasing procedures to participants.
 

Assessing Participants' Satisfaction and Expectations

Do you recall the two key figures noted in our introduction?

A post-training survey of the participants indicated 73% found this collaborative training approach met their expectations, with the remaining 27% saying their expectations were partially met. Participants particularly valued the opportunity to interact with stakeholders and learn from the experience of their counterparts in other countries. They also highlighted a better understanding of market drivers, contract negotiation, and buyer relationship management.

Aubin Somba, Deputy Director of USADF local implementing partner Cabinet d'Ingénierie et de Conseil en Développement d'Entreprises (ICDE) in Benin, is hopeful the buyer meeting will lead to more contracts for next season. "We now have a database of potential buyers; we will keep in touch with them for the benefit of the cooperatives we work with," he said.

For both technical partners and the cooperatives, the USADF and GSA webinar training contributed to empowering women cooperatives and economic advancement.