Women’s Resilience to Climate Change in Shea Sector

Area of Expertise

  • Gender Equality

Means of Action

  • Volunteer cooperation
  • Development
Country Country

Burkina Faso, rural regions of Centre-Ouest (Sissili and Ziro provinces) and Hauts-Bassins (Houet and Tuy provinces)

Length Length

July 2018 to March 2021

Beneficiaries Beneficiaries
  • 3,000 households directly benefit from the project through climate change adaptation 
  • 16,000 people benefit indirectly from the project through local partners or outreach activities
Partners Partners

Canadian partners:

  • OURANOS
  • GECA Environnement

Burkinabe partners:

  • Agence Nationale de Météorologie du Burkina (ANAM) 
  • Fondation des Amis de la Nature (NATURAMA) 
  • Centre Écologique Albert Schweitzer (CEAS-Burkina) 
  • Fédération NUNUNA 
  • Réseau des productrices de beurre de karité des Hauts Bassins et des Cascades (RPBHC)
Budget Budget

$1,377,997
$999,999 from the Quebec government (Programme de coopération climatique internationale)
$377,998 Global Affairs Canada (Volunteer Cooperation Program)
$42,012 Local Partner Contribution

In Burkina Faso, shea products are the livelihood of 1.5 million people, 90% of whom are women. But in recent years, the shea tree has faced a number of threats—aging parklands, parasitic attacks and deforestation, and climate change being the predominant threat.

Although the shea industry provides a number of social, economic and ecological benefits to communities, it also comes with serious environmental issues. Shea butter production requires a great deal of wood fuel and a reliable local capacity for recycling production waste. 

The Shea Resilience project was developed in response to these multi-faceted issues. The project objective is to improve resilience and sustainable management in shea parklands through women’s leadership and organizations.

Protecting shea trees with scientific data and local knowledge 

The project draws on the scientific expertise of the Ouranos consortium and local knowledge from the Agence Nationale de Météorologie du Burkina Faso (ANAM) and the NATURAMA foundation to produce climate scenarios specific to the country.

It also builds the capacities of Burkinabe institutions, local NGOs, community leaders and shea producer organizations to interpret these climate scenarios and use them to choose better options for adapting to the climate and its expected effects on shea production. The project also conducts cost-benefit analyses in order to choose adaptations that are the most socially and economically appropriate in both the short and long term.

 

Extension of sustainable forest resource management practices 

Demonstration plots are built to extend agroforestry practices that are better adapted to climate change. Some 400 shea producer households, comprising at least 60% women, receive financial support to implement recognized agroforestry practices or set up demonstration plots. 

Promotion for innovative alternatives to wood fuel 

The use of “improved pyrolysis,” a technique by which organic coal is produced from organic waste (e.g., from shea processing) is one measure the project has implemented in cooperation with GECA Environnement and CEAS-Burkina.

An effort is also being made to identify and promote innovative technologies that could offer an alternative to wood fuel that would benefit farming households, such as improved stoves, sun driers and briquettes as fuel.

Strengthening women’s leadership and empowerment 

Women are the backbone of the shea industry. The project works with leaders of women producer organizations and other community leaders to empower them, enhance their leadership, and get them using climate scenarios and adaptation or mitigation measures in response to climate change. 

Ultimately, the project will contribute to establishing a socioeconomic system that is more resilient to climate change, in particular for women, who will be all the more prepared to protect shea parklands and their long-term source of revenue. The project activities are also expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26,000 kilotonnes of equivalent CO2 per year, equal to 12 tonnes of protected shea wood and 211 hectares of forest saved each year.

Through these components, the project will provide training and technical support for capacity building (training and advisory support) for women leaders, trainers/facilitators, shea producers and other community leaders on the likely impacts of climate change, sustainable management of shea parks, recommended adaptation strategies based on climate scenarios and analyses, and alternatives to wood fuel.

Project figures
4,236

People, 98% of whom were women, members of organizations of shea producers and processors, were trained in agro-forestry practices adapted to climate change;


2,221

Women, members of the same organizations, participated in training on the manufacture and use of biochar briquettes as an alternative to firewood and charcoal. 320 of them received improved stoves designed specifically for the use of biochar briquettes; 


210

Beehives were installed in the shea parks managed by women, in order to improve the productivity of the parks while contributing to the diversification of the sources of income of women producers.  

Thank you to our partners

In partnership with :

Women’s Resilience to Climate Change in Shea Sector Women’s Resilience to Climate Change in Shea Sector Women’s Resilience to Climate Change in Shea Sector Women’s Resilience to Climate Change in Shea Sector Women’s Resilience to Climate Change in Shea Sector Women’s Resilience to Climate Change in Shea Sector Women’s Resilience to Climate Change in Shea Sector

With the financial support of :

Women’s Resilience to Climate Change in Shea Sector Women’s Resilience to Climate Change in Shea Sector
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