processing every day. They produce cosmetics, cooking oil and medicinal mixtures with shea nuts. For them, it is not just a business they do to get by and put food on the table, but a profitable venture worthy of being passed down to their female children. TheCable’s MARYAM ABDULLAHI reports how several Niger women are empowering themselves and others through shea butter.
The rigorous toiling and swirling made the processing labour-intensive but it was produced in small quantities. At the time, the shea oil produced was only for consumption purposes. Sarauniya said the women started to go to the bush in large numbers to fetch the shea seeds, a trend which persisted for years until nomadic herders, who had settled in the forest, took interest in it.
The nuts are then washed by the extractors, after which they are left under the sun to remove the moisture. This is followed by the pounding of the nuts into small pieces. The small pieces are then roasted on the fire until they turn into a dark chocolate paste which is mixed with water to properly soften it.They proceed to the boiling area where they separate the fat portion from the oil. The fat portion will rise to the top of the pot, leaving the oil at the bottom.
Some years back, Ladi could never be caught using her hands to touch the locally-made shea butter because of its smell — until the Japanese showed her a way around it. “Five Japanese came to Niger with a bag of cosmetics, I watched them and asked many questions on cosmetics making. After I mastered the production process, I said to myself, this is a big business for me and my children.”
She also realised that the offensive stench was partly a result of the kind of water used in processing the shea products. According to her, cleaner water can help to reduce the smell. “I travelled to Lagos and she prepared a loan of N8 million for me and that was what uplifted me. That was what improved my business because, without finance, you can’t do anything.”Through her consistency and relentlessness, in 2020, Ladi won the federal government’s MSME award in the wellness, beauty and cosmetics category, earning N1 million in prize money.
“This is the engine I use to grind shea butter. I usually collect 1,000 for small bowls and the biggest bowl is 2,000,” said Hashimu who has never had any form of education.One family per production day
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