Thread by @sarnchos

Nigeria has the largest Shea belt in the world, & it's recognized as the world's leading producer of Shea nuts with global output of about 45%

Documented annual production is between 330k–350k MT while potential production is estimated at 800k MT (2016)
dailytrust.com.ng/how-nigeria-ca…

The RMRDC boss said that out of the 800,000mt of Shea nuts produced in Nigeria, only 20,000mt is processed into butter while the rest are exported to neighbouring West African countries

Shea butter has skin care, healing, & medicinal properties which makes its demand very high

Nigeria can generate up to $600 million annually from the use of shea butter by the cosmetics industry alone.

Mechanized processing of the nuts can speed up its duration and increase the scale of production

How is it processed?

After the nuts are gathered,

1. they are steamed to remove the skin
2. Dried
3. Ground to paste
4. "washed" several times to separate the pure bitter from its dark impurities

The purer forms of Shea butter are sold for up to N750k - N1m per MT

The tree starts to bear fruit at 15 yrs & reaches full production at 20 yrs. It can then continue to produce nuts for the next 200 yrs

The tree produces 15-20 kg of fruit, yielding 6-8 kg of butter a year, according to research by the Global Shea Alliance
businessday.ng/businessday-in…