Globalisations in a nutshell: Historical perspectives on the changing governance of the shea commodity chain in northern Ghana

Abstract

Pre-colonial patterns of trade in West Africa included exchanges of shea in periodic local and regional markets. The collection, processing and marketing of shea products in such markets continues to be predominantly by women to both meet subsistence needs, and exchange of surpluses. In the early part of the 20th century, the British colonial administration considered the possibilities of starting large-scale exports of shea kernels to Europe. Multiple colonial initiatives to develop the global trade were not successful due to a composite of factors. Contemporary patterns of production, trade and regulation are contrasted in the context of globalisation in the post-independence era. The government of Ghana has progressively reinforced its ambitions to expand the shea nut trade as part of the state's portfolio of major non-traditional agricultural export commodities. This policy is embedded within the (now) dominant orthodoxy of neo-liberalism, which privileges monetized production systems and private over public regulation. Historically and culturally-embedded patterns of shea production and trade by women in northern Ghana may now be challenged by the emergence of new processing technologies, the emergence of an oligopolistic global commodity chain and the anticipated continued growth in global demand for cocoa butter equivalents. Nevertheless, the cumulative impacts of increasing commercialisation and world market integration at the national and local level in Ghana, and other West African producer countries, are still unknown. There are risks, however, that this process may result in 368 Andrew Wardell and Niels Fold social differentiation, changes in household consumption patterns and loss of livelihoods, particularly for women. Acknowledgements:The authors would like to thank three anonymous referees for their valuable comments on an earlier draft. We would also like to thank the Danish Council for Development Research for financial assistance.

A Survey-Based Qualitative Analysis of the Institutional Structures and Policy Measures in the Shea Sector of Ghana

“…Historical accounts of shea trade in Ghana indicate that shea butter was an important commodity of local and regional trade from the mid-nineteenth century often being in the return cargo of Volta River salt canoes (Wardell and Fold, 2013). It was an important exchange commodity between the Sahelian kingdoms in the north and the Akan kingdoms of the south.…”

“…The period after political independence in 1957 was another important historical era in shea production and trade in Ghana. Wardell and Fold (2013) note the shifting demand for shea kernels in the global market after the Second World War. In a quest for the newly independent Ghana to expand its tax and revenue base, attention was drawn to the shea sector.…”

“…Government attempted to support the Cocoa, Coffee and Sheanut Farmers' Association but the impact on the revival of the shea sector had been weak (SNV, 2006). Wardell and Fold (2013) noted that state regulation of the shea sector was initially done indirectly through licensing and export control but progressively changed to direct involvement in purchasing operations. The government's inability to regulate the shea trade effectively cemented the transition to governance by oligopoly (Wardell and Fold, 2013).…”

“…Source: Elias and Carney, 2007, p. 38. ISSN 1923-3981 E-ISSN 1923 Wardell and Fold (2013) have found historical evidence that suggests that the widespread production and trade of shea across the West African region had existed for centuries and dates back beyond European colonial rule in Africa. In Ghana, historically and culturally, shea-related activities have been largely confined to the three northern regions of the country where the shea trees are most ubiquitous (Laube et al, 2017).…”

Local agro-industrial by-products with potential use in Ghanaian aquaculture: a review

“…The shea nut tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) is generally widespread in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of West Africa and grows wild across a 5,000 km belt, covering 18 countries including Ghana (Masters et al 2004;Wardell and Fold 2013). In Ghana, the shea tree is endemic to the Northern regions and bear fruits which are collected from June to September (Hatskevich et al 2011).…”