Organic Shea Butter Responsible Farming

Organic Shea Butter, Responsible Farming and Fair Trade

When someone tells you a product is “organic,” you automatically think that it is organically grown.  But what, exactly does that mean?  Well, the answer varies.  Most often, it means that it is grown according to accepted organic farming practices, but there are exceptions.

With organic shea butter, responsible farming practices are a much smaller part of the story.  Organic shea butter is made from nuts from karite trees in Africa.  The trees are rarely cultivated; some people say they cannot be cultivated.  The nuts cannot be harvested, either; they must be gathered after they drop from the tree. With organic shea butter, responsible farming means preserving the land and ecosystem that supports the karite trees. Africans call the karite tree the “tree of life,” and it is interesting how organic shea butter, responsible farming and fair trade make a circle that means life or death for many African families.

Organic shea butter is in demand in western markets because it has healing properties and it makes your skin look soft and ageless.  Agelessness is much sought after in western markets, and non-organic—or refined shea butter doesn’t do the job that organic shea butter does.

Making organic shea butter is women’s work, and women’s work is easily exploited.  In the past, a woman would work 20-30 hours to make a kilogram of shea butter, and would be paid less than $1.00 for it.  Today, women’s cooperatives such as Songtaaba, and Fair Trade Practices are making organic shea butter a major agricultural export of some African countries—and providing a living wage for women.

The biggest threat to the shea butter industry is the desertification of Africa.  Karite trees cannot be cultivated, so they must be protected.  Pollination of karite trees is dependent on fruit bats, so they must be protected.  In addition, to earn the label “organic,” chemical soil additives and pesticides cannot be used on the trees—or the farms where they grow naturally.  In order to market fair trade organic shea butter, responsible farming must be practiced wherever the karite trees grow naturally.

We should also note that the biggest cause of the desertification of Africa is global warming, and the people who want organic shea butter are the biggest global warmers.  Perhaps the western market for agelessness could be exploited in a way that causes western buyers to liver more responsibly, so that organic shea butter, responsible farming and fair market practices can continue to change the lives of African families for a long time.

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