” Kolo Nafaso – women’s groups in Burkina Faso In 2009 AAK initiated a project of responsible sourcing of shea kernels in Burkina Faso. The initial project was designed as a win-win concept between the women collecting the shea kernels and AAK. It was called Kolo Nafaso, meaning “the house of benefits of shea kernels”. The project grew bigger and became a program, meaning a new way of doing business for both AAK and the women. As seen in the graph, the number of women participating in the program has grown almost exponentially since 2009 which to us is a great indicator of its success. This season, 2015/16, more than 90,000 women joined the program, surpassing our expectations by 20,000. There are still many women who would like to join the program, and thus our aim is to further extend it next season. We have now started the same program in Ghana where 4,000 women, having delivered shea kernels for the first season, are enrolled. Our goal for Ghana is to broaden the program for the coming season. It is, however, not only a question of extending the number of women participating, but also to continue to create and increase job opportunities for more people, both outside and within our organization. We need for instance extension officers, team leaders, drivers, warehouse keepers as well as administrative personnel. Our extension officers are constantly educating both new and old women’s groups in how to process the shea kernels to obtain a good-quality product in order to optimize the women’s income. 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 2,250 4,300 7,613 14,304 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 One of the base criteria to obtain a sustainable availability of shea is to inform about the importance of saving both old and new shea trees for future generations, creating an income not only today but also tomorrow. Another criterion is to use the shell of the shea kernel as firewood. With a possible shortage of firewood in some areas we encourage the usage of shells as part of the consumption of firewood. The women’s groups program is very important to AAK as it gives us direct contact with the parties doing the lion’s share of the work in producing good-quality shea kernels. The win-win concept is evident as AAK assists and facilitates, both financially and educationally, the women’s work in the field of shea. As a result AAK can buy good-quality shea kernels. Examples in the villages show us that through an increased income from good-quality shea, the women have the possibility to also work with other agricultural products as the season for shea as such is rather limited. Monika Hjorth Sourcing & Logistics Manager, West Africa 54,919 90,473 36,579
Hållbarhetsrapport 2015/2016
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