President John Dramani Mahama has launched the SheaPark Resource Hub Project, an initiative to strengthen the shea industry through value addition.
Spearheaded by Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin and Professor Kwame Addo, the project in Wa is grounded in climate-smart agriculture, sustainable land use, renewable energy integration, waste valorisation and recycling systems, environmental stewardship of the Sheapark lands, and biodiversity.
Addressing the launch on Saturday, January 31, 2026, President Mahama stated that the hub is designed to alleviate poverty among women who have been driving the shea butter industry for years, as it is expected to empower over 7,000 women in the Upper West and provide jobs to thousands of youths.
“For generations, women have sustained households and communities through shea picking and processing, and yet, despite Ghana’s position as one of the world’s leading producers of shea nuts, the women who form the backbone of this industry have remained trapped in poverty and at the lowest end of the value chain.”
He envisions the hub becoming a world-class, phased agro-industrial ecosystem designed around sustainability, innovation, and inclusion, as well as bringing together modern shea processing facilities for cosmetic production, food, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceutical markets.
The ecosystem, he said, will include quality control laboratories; training and capacity-building centres; storage, logistics, and warehousing; direct market access; solar-powered energy solutions; water treatment and recycling plants; business incubation; cooperative aggregation; and export facilitation.
The President furthered that the Hub would operate across shifts, processing, logistics, quality control, packaging, and distribution, creating round-the-clock employment opportunities, especially for young people.
President Mahama said the project will anchor value chains not only for shea but also for associated products such as groundnuts, soybeans, sorghum, dawadawa, cotton, and honey.
The government has provided 3,000 pairs of Wellington boots and 3,200 gloves to women in the region who work in the shea industry, aiming to protect them from snake and scorpion bites while picking shea nuts.
Story by Hajara Fuseini
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Source:
opemsuo.com
