104 The contribution of shea butter (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertner) to local livelihoods in Beninhad caused the price to fall to CFA17 per kilogram. By contrast, poor yields in
1992 resulted in a higher local market price (CFA50/kg) than the official
minimum (CFA40/kg). The international price for shea is closely linked to that
of cocoa, and the highest official minimum price in Benin (CFA100/kg) was set
in 1985/6 when there was a shortage of cocoa butter on the international
market (Kagnassy personal communication).
Official export figures from Benin are highly variable and unreliable. One
large export company claimed to have exported 13,000 t of kernels in 1992,
though the DCCP estimated total exports at only 9,100 t. FAO statistics suggest
that exports in 1993 were only about 7,870 t and then nearly doubled in 1994
(FAO 2001).
Several sources suggest that both potential and actual supplies of shea
kernels in West Africa exceed local and international demand (Boffa 1999).
Certainly this was true in the study area, where less than 5% of total production
was collected in 1993. On the international demand side, European food
industries are not concerned about a shortage in supply (Boffa 1999) given
that demand has never exceeded supply in the history of the crop.
The international shea market is a narrow and confidential one, for which
it is rather difficult to obtain prices, quantities purchased, demand or other
data (Boffa 1999). FAO (2001) estimated total exports from West Africa in
1994 to be around 58,700 t of dried kernels. Savadogo et al. (1998) estimated
that 40 t to 75,000 t were destined for Europe with a further 10 t to 15,000 t
being exported to Japan. More recent estimates, however, suggest that the
real volume leaving West Africa each year may be closer to 500,000 t (P. Lovett
personal communication).Butter trade
Locally processed butter is essentially for the local market. A few women also
made opportunistic use of trips to Cotonou to take baskets of butter pats with
them for door-to-door sales. At national level, butter is exported by just a
handful of companies. All of these contract the SONICOG factory in Cotonou to
do the processing. According to the government, 1,879 t of butter were exported
in 1992 but the figures are unreliable.Soap trade
In the Bassila area, the women who make butter for sale may also make
traditional soap from left-over and rancid butter. This black and crumbly soap
is made from shea butter (or palm kernel oil), which is saponified using potash
derived from the ash of trees such as Piliostigma thonningii (Schum.) Milne-
Redhead or sorghum stalks. Some people prefer this soap to manufactured
soap because of its reputed skin-healing properties. At national level, the
SONICOG soap factory in Porto Novo uses small proportions (less than 5%) of
shea (together with palm oil and palm kernel oil) in some of the soap it makes.
This Palmida brand soap eventually ends up back in the village via a series of
intermediary traders.06SHEA.P65 104 22/12/2004, 11:04