Shea butter: A pro-poor, pro-female route to increased income

Increasing agricultural productivity does not often provide a viable route out of poverty or hunger for the poorest households, because their farms tend to be small with low yield potential. These challenges will be amplified as climate change causes shifting patterns of crop suitability and disease...

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Autores principales: Hammond, James, Wijk, Mark T. van, Pagella, Tim, Carpena, Pietro, Skirrow, Tom, Dauncey, Victoria
Formato: Capítulo de libro
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/98585
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author Hammond, James
Wijk, Mark T. van
Pagella, Tim
Carpena, Pietro
Skirrow, Tom
Dauncey, Victoria
author_browse Carpena, Pietro
Dauncey, Victoria
Hammond, James
Pagella, Tim
Skirrow, Tom
Wijk, Mark T. van
author_facet Hammond, James
Wijk, Mark T. van
Pagella, Tim
Carpena, Pietro
Skirrow, Tom
Dauncey, Victoria
author_sort Hammond, James
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Increasing agricultural productivity does not often provide a viable route out of poverty or hunger for the poorest households, because their farms tend to be small with low yield potential. These challenges will be amplified as climate change causes shifting patterns of crop suitability and disease and pest pressures. Off-farm sources of income are often cited as an alternative to increased farm productivity, but in remote communities such opportunities can be very limited. Shea trees may offer an alternative. In northern Ghana, shea butter has been promoted as a climate-smart option for increasing household incomes. Here we present a quantitative study of 223 households, half of whom were exposed to improved value-chain opportunities for sale of shea butter. An innovative survey tool called RHoMIS (Rural Household Multi-Indicator Survey) allowed rapid evaluation of the project impacts on multiple household welfare metrics: income, food security and gender. The survey results showed that the poorest households self-selected to take part in shea butter production, and that the resulting income remained in the control of women. When compared to a control population, those who took part in shea production substantially increased their incomes and became more food secure. We conclude that the promotion of shea butter value chains can function as a complement to CSA activities, especially by increasing adaptive capacity. The shea trees themselves serve as a buffer against desertification and protect soil and water resources, and shea butter production boosts incomes, making households more resilient in the face of climate shocks and other negative events.
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spelling CGSpace985852025-01-27T15:00:52Z Shea butter: A pro-poor, pro-female route to increased income Hammond, James Wijk, Mark T. van Pagella, Tim Carpena, Pietro Skirrow, Tom Dauncey, Victoria gender women shea butter livelihoods Increasing agricultural productivity does not often provide a viable route out of poverty or hunger for the poorest households, because their farms tend to be small with low yield potential. These challenges will be amplified as climate change causes shifting patterns of crop suitability and disease and pest pressures. Off-farm sources of income are often cited as an alternative to increased farm productivity, but in remote communities such opportunities can be very limited. Shea trees may offer an alternative. In northern Ghana, shea butter has been promoted as a climate-smart option for increasing household incomes. Here we present a quantitative study of 223 households, half of whom were exposed to improved value-chain opportunities for sale of shea butter. An innovative survey tool called RHoMIS (Rural Household Multi-Indicator Survey) allowed rapid evaluation of the project impacts on multiple household welfare metrics: income, food security and gender. The survey results showed that the poorest households self-selected to take part in shea butter production, and that the resulting income remained in the control of women. When compared to a control population, those who took part in shea production substantially increased their incomes and became more food secure. We conclude that the promotion of shea butter value chains can function as a complement to CSA activities, especially by increasing adaptive capacity. The shea trees themselves serve as a buffer against desertification and protect soil and water resources, and shea butter production boosts incomes, making households more resilient in the face of climate shocks and other negative events. 2019 2018-12-14T15:19:59Z 2018-12-14T15:19:59Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/98585 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/99250 Open Access Springer Hammond, J., Wijk, M. van, Pagella, T., Carpena, P., Skirrow, T. and Dauncey, V. 2019. Shea butter: A pro-poor, pro-female route to increased income. IN: Rosenstock, T., Nowak, A. and Girvetz, E. (eds). The climate-smart agriculture papers. Cham, Switzerland: Springer: 215-226.
spellingShingle gender
women
shea butter
livelihoods
Hammond, James
Wijk, Mark T. van
Pagella, Tim
Carpena, Pietro
Skirrow, Tom
Dauncey, Victoria
Shea butter: A pro-poor, pro-female route to increased income
title Shea butter: A pro-poor, pro-female route to increased income
title_full Shea butter: A pro-poor, pro-female route to increased income
title_fullStr Shea butter: A pro-poor, pro-female route to increased income
title_full_unstemmed Shea butter: A pro-poor, pro-female route to increased income
title_short Shea butter: A pro-poor, pro-female route to increased income
title_sort shea butter a pro poor pro female route to increased income
topic gender
women
shea butter
livelihoods
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/98585
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