Shea butter processing centres for women in Garu-Tempane District

World Vision Ghana (WVG) has constructed shea butter processing centres for 600 women in the Garu-Tempane District of the Upper East Region to help improve and sustain their livelihoods.

The Shea butter project which is being implemented by WVG Garu Area Programme and its partners with funding from World Vision Korea in 2015 and 2016 respectively, installed the facilities in two communities, Kpikpira and Gagbiri with extraction machines and this is in addition to training the women on how to use the machines for processing.

Mr Bugre Rexford Yamdorg, the Bawku Cluster Programme Manager of WVG, said this at an exhibition durbar on shea butter products organized at the Woriyanga community by WVG to showcase the products produced by the Garu-Tempane Women Shea Network.

The Programme Manager said the women who were trained in value addition were making soap and pomade, hair cream and body lotions using the shea butter they produced.

Mr Yamdorg said the project has improved the financial position of the women to contribute to their household income and to cater for their children adding that plans are far advanced to put up one of such facilities at the Woriyanga community.

He said apart from the shea butter project, WVG Garu Area Programme under the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) component in the 2017 financial year drilled 25 boreholes in addition to the 102 boreholes already drilled.

Mr Yamdorg said his outfit under the WASH component also supported the Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit in the District to help nineteen communities to attain Open Defecation Free status.

He said his outfit was supporting the Birth and Death Registration Office to register 2500 vulnerable children in the District and has so far provided the office with tables, chairs, laptop, desktop computer and a printer to facilitate the administrative activities of the registry.

Mr Emmanuel Asore Avoka, the District Chief Executive (DCE)for the area, lauded WVG and the donors for complementing the efforts of Government in the area of WASH, Education and agriculture.

He pledged that the Assembly under the government flagship programme of One District, One factory would offer support to Women Shea Network groups by building their capacity and to also help them acquire loans from Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) and the banks.