The Shea Network Ghana, a civil society organization focused on the Shea sector, has called on government to decouple the Shea sector and it value chain from the
Speaking at a two-day workshop for selected journalists in Tamale, the national coordinator of the group, Zakaria Iddi said “Cocoa and shea are quite different; they need different agencies and strategies to deal with their issues. Putting shea under Ghana Cocoa Board makes the sector retrogress.”
The workshop was held to enhance the knowledge of journalists and to also help improve the sector’s development potential.
Mr Iddi added “The shea sector embedded under COCOBOD has made it difficult for this sector to get much-needed attention from government and investors.”
The Shea sector, he said, had engaged over 900,000 people, mainly women, adding that the “Sector can engage still more if government heeds the call of stakeholders to act on separating the sector from COCOBOD.”
Mr. Iddi also noted that decoupling the Shea sector from the COCOBOD, will increase investment opportunities in the sector and the entire value chain.
The Ghana Cocoa Board Act puts cocoa, coffee and shea under the COCOBOD. However, cocoa has dominated the economy, starving coffee and shea of the needed investments and attention from government.
“The shea sector embedded under COCOBOD has made it difficult for this sector to get much-needed attention from government and investors,” he said.
The workshop was on the theme ‘The Ghana Shea Sector and the Capacity of Media on Shea Reporting’, aimed at encouraging journalists to take interest in reporting shea activities in the country.
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