Drought conditions in savannah belt threatening shea production

Climate alteration is threatening the beingness of shea trees successful the country’s bluish parts – the Upper East, Upper West, Northern, North East and Savannah Regions.

Indeed, shea trees are seeing a precise steep diminution successful accumulation owed to the prevailing harsh upwind conditions which impact their yield.

According to caller figures, sheanut accumulation has declined 10-20 percent and continues to nose-dive owed to the interaction of clime alteration and immoderate different biology factors.

While the state produces implicit 150,000 metric tonnes of shea nuts annually, of this quantity lone astir 30-40 percent is processed into shea food domestically. The remainder is exported arsenic earthy nuts, chiefly to Europe, for refining.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, successful 2020 sheanut exports dropped slightly. Only 75,000 metric tonnes worthy US$70million made it retired of Ghana.

However, successful 2021 sheanut exports upticked again and has been expanding ever since. 85,000 metric tonnes of sheanuts valued astatine US$80million was exported successful 2021, portion successful 2022 implicit 90,000 metric tonnes of sheanuts and shea food worthy astir US$90million was exported.

It is to this extremity that the Ghana Shea Employers Association (GSEA) has renewed calls for an contiguous prohibition connected the export of earthy shea nuts; citing the increasing menace to section processors, worth concatenation actors and the broader system successful bluish regions.

They lament that the concern is negatively affecting pickers, processors and section businesses, galore of which are women-led.

The relation is truthful calling for information by overseas investors, connected information that they found processing factories successful Ghana to beforehand occupation instauration and boost home revenue.

Sheanuts, being 1 of the country’s starring non-traditional cultivation exports, contiguous an accidental to amended the incomes of agrarian women successful bluish Ghana, thereby helping to trim the north-south improvement gap.

Rain patterns person go erratic and short-lived, thereby causing intermittent drought. This is taking a toll connected peasant farmers who trust heavy connected seasonal rainfall for their farming activities.

The effect of clime alteration is not constricted to lone nutrient crops. Deep-rooted trees besides succumb to the ever-rising temperatures.

Additionally, biology degradation linked to unregulated harvesting, deforestation, rampant bushfires, logging of shea trees for firewood and accumulation of charcoal and demolition of shea histrion farms for large-scale agriculture are threatening biodiversity and accelerating clime change.