Bunge Launches new Shea Public-Private Partnership

A ceremonial event took place last week in Accra, Ghana to officially launch The Women Shea Business Cooperative project.

The project is a partnership between Bunge, Agriterra and GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für International Zusammenarbeit GmbH) – a German federal enterprise with worldwide operations in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education work. The collaboration with GIZ is funded through the develoPPP programme and the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition” of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The three-and-a-half-year project will create six new independent women business cooperatives supporting the livelihoods of more than 2,500 shea collecting women and their communities in North Ghana.

The program will be implemented in collaboration with Agriterra, Bunge’s current NGO partner in the Where Life Grows shea program. Agriterra provides expert advice and training to cooperatives and farmer organizations in emerging economies. 

“The project builds on our existing direct sourcing activities in North Ghana and will support Bunge in achieving our ambition to positively impact 400,000 shea collecting women by 2030 in an efficient, credible and verifiable way,” said Laura de Gruijter, Bunge Sustainability Manager. “We are proud to partner with develoPPP GIZ, a programme with a proven track record of collaborating with businesses in developing countries by providing technical assistance to support people and societies in shaping their own future.”

”I am very proud that over 600 shea collecting women were present at the kick-off meeting. For me this underlines the engagement and local importance of the program for the communities. I am looking forward to seeing the results for the communities in the near future" said Barbara Macon, Program Manager Sustainability who leads the project implementation in Ghana.