Northern Regional Minister Hon. Adolf Ali John has called for a decisive shift from the export of largely raw shea commodities towards value addition, processing, branding and access to international markets.
He said the shea industry had enormous potential to create decent employment, increase household incomes and expand economic opportunities for women and young people across Northern Ghana.
Hon. Adolf Ali John made the call in his welcome remarks at the 3rd edition of the World Shea Expo held at the Modern City Hotel in Tamale.
The three-day Expo is being held under the theme, “From Local Commodity to Global Brand: Accelerating Women and Youth-Led Value Addition in Shea.”
The event has brought together policymakers, traditional leaders, MMDCEs, shea producers, women’s groups, youth entrepreneurs, investors, development partners, researchers and other players within the shea value chain.
The Regional Minister said the Northern Region was proud to host the Expo because it was at the heart of Ghana’s shea-producing belt and had generations of women whose livelihoods were closely connected to the commodity.
He welcomed Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang and other dignitaries to Tamale, saying the Vice President’s presence demonstrated the importance attached to the shea industry and the economic empowerment of women and young people.
Hon. Adolf said women in the region had traditionally played a central role in collecting shea nuts and processing them into butter and other products, while increasingly becoming involved in aggregation, marketing and export activities.
He, however, noted that despite the enormous economic potential of shea, more needed to be done to enable producers and processors to capture a greater share of the value generated along the value chain.
He therefore called for stronger investment in processing, product development, modern packaging, branding and access to international markets.
The Minister said the theme of the Expo was closely aligned with the development aspirations of Northern Ghana, stressing that the shea sector could become a major source of employment for the youth if they were deliberately connected to finance, skills, technology, markets and business development services.
He urged stakeholders to create space for women and young people to introduce innovation, technology, digital marketing, research and entrepreneurship into the industry.
Hon. Adolf also called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, private-sector actors, financial institutions, development partners, researchers and industry players to unlock investment and expand opportunities throughout the shea value chain.
He expressed the hope that discussions at the Expo would result in practical interventions capable of creating jobs, increasing incomes, attracting investment and strengthening Ghana’s position in the global shea market.
The Regional Minister commended the organisers, sponsors, development partners and other stakeholders for their commitment to making the World Shea Expo a platform for advancing the shea industry.
He said the Expo provided an opportunity for Ghana to move beyond viewing shea as a traditional commodity and instead promote it as a source of locally manufactured, value-added and internationally competitive products.
Hon. Adolf expressed confidence that the outcome of the Expo would contribute to building a stronger, more inclusive and sustainable shea industry while improving the livelihoods of producers and creating expanded economic opportunities for women and young people across the country.
