The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Mohammed Muniru Lemuna has called on industry players to acquire knowledge on emerging issues in the shea industry.
According to Mr. Lemuna, the shea industry in Ghana occupies an important place in the economic development of the country, especially in northern Ghana. This is because of its role in job creation, especially for women, foreign exchange earnings, industrial development and the growth of the national economy.
Ghana is one of the major producers of shea in the world, with the export of shea-nuts averaging 60,000 metric tons per-annum. The nuts are currently classified as a non-traditional export commodity, monitored by the Ghana Export Promotion Council.
Alhaji Lemuna made the call at a book launch ceremony held in Tamale. The book entitled “Ghana’s Shea Industry: Knowing the Fundamentals” was written by Professor Seidu Alhassan, and seeks to highlight the basic importance of sheanuts, expose gender imbalances in the acquisition of property and show the environmental consequences of cutting down shea trees.
The book also reveals the economic benefit of the commodity as well as its health importance and also to challenge individuals in the northern part of Ghana to see the need to protect shea trees and the environment at large. According to the Global Shea Alliance, the market for shea butter has doubled in the past decade.
An upward surge in demand saw the price of unrefined shea butter soaring, from around 900 dollars a metric tonne before the year 2000, to an average of 2,000 dollars over the past three years.
In 2014, after harvest, prices reached as high as 4,000 dollars a tonne as demand outstripped supply.
The minister therefore urged decision makers to formulate appropriate policies for the shea industry.
A Researcher and a lecturer at the University For Development Studies (UDS) Professor Saa Dittoh, who gave a brief review and comments about the book, said the book was written to educate the public on the need to cherish and adore the natural resource ‘shea’ that exists in the Savannah ecological zone.
The northern regional minister on his part stated that the most vital requirement for any society to develop is the protection of its natural resources hence the need to concentrate efforts on local resources.
By;Lilian D.Walter/zaaradio.com