Ghanese vrouw draagt grote schaal met sheanoten op hoofd

Our pure shea butter and natural black soap come from Ghana

“Pure raw, unrefined organic shea butter and authentic natural African black soap”

That's what I was looking for when I decided to import my own shea butter. During a working visit to Ghana I asked my husband to keep his ears and eyes open for a small-scale farm and he was soon able to visit a few.

I decided to contact Prince, and shortly afterwards I had the first boxes of shea butter in Rijssen.

This is their story:

Rural livelihood

In most rural areas of the world, most of the population is involved in agriculture as a means of earning a livelihood. 

Small-scale agriculture, fishing, livestock farming and non-agricultural activities are some of the communal livelihoods on which these populations survive. 

Rural livelihoods pose a major challenge as these populations are often in a state of poverty and do not have the necessities to survive. 

A rural household with diverse sources of income-earning activities has better chances of financial survival than a household that has only one source. 

Providing quality education and training in a variety of skills in rural areas is therefore necessary to achieve sustainable rural living.

We offer production centers located in various rural areas in the Ashanti Region, of Ghana, West Africa.

It offers residents a job opportunity to earn some income to improve their livelihood.

The production activities provide the workforce with a form of apprenticeship skills that will help them open small businesses locally as well as providing a market for the agricultural products grown around the villages.

young ghanses woman with bucket of shea nuts on head walks through savannah

Economic strength

Economic empowerment enables men and women to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes in ways that recognize the value of their contributions, respect their dignity and enable the negotiation of a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth. 

Economic empowerment is thought to enable poor people to think beyond immediate daily survival and exercise greater control over both their resources and their life choices.

Economic empowerment involves giving people, usually disadvantaged women, the education, training and skills they need to find a job, earn an income and become self-sufficient.

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer who strives to enable staff and other business contact groups, such as farmers, to become self-employed. 

This drives them to increase productivity and life satisfaction. 

We also provide a working environment where employees feel safe, comfortable and secured for efficient and effective operations.

women in ghana make shea butter by hand

Involvement of women in the production process

Women's involvement in production activities empowers them socially and economically. 
It helps them earn an income so that they do not become dependent on others. 
 
Women make up approximately 80% of the workforce, which promotes effectiveness and efficiency in the workplace. 
Women form the majority in the workplace, creating strong communication and networking skills that encourage collaboration and group work.
Our presence as a company brings significant benefits to women in the areas:
  1. For example, the women are imbued with talents that can create jobs for them and their family members.
  2. It helps promote respect for women because it provides women with legitimate employment to earn a living. 
  3. Women in our various production centers use their emotional intelligence, passion and helpful nature to create a healthy working environment.
woman with bucket of shea nuts on head in beautiful turquoise robe

Namashea and Ghana

Namashea products are not only very good for your skin, but also for the people who make them.
I think it is just as important that Namashea products are made with respect for nature.
This makes it also good for your skin!
Our products do not contain any harmful substances and are made manually. You can read more about harmful substances in cosmetics in this blog
Whether it is sustainable is debatable. In principle no, because I import the shea butter and the black onion soap from Ghana and the konjac sponges from Japan.
But, if you compare it with a product from the drugstore, it is more sustainable:
On the label of a jar of cream from the drugstore, you will see as many as 20 ingredients. The brand's factory imports each ingredient from somewhere in the world where the ingredient is cheapest to obtain.
These are already 20 environmentally unfriendly transports.
The jar of cream is exported from the factory to the main branches all over the world and from there distributed to the branches in the country.
Having found this shea butter, black soap and konjac sponges, I can say with certainty that it is good for your skin, good for the people who make it (a blog about the konjac sponges will follow soon) and that the products are made with respect for nature.
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