Wild plant resources represent a vital “green” social security to the Savannah nations of Africa. Laughing Bird’s unrefined shea butter is purchased from a cooperative involved in the entire process of gathering the nuts and making the butter using traditional method passed down from family to family. This is important as the exporting of large quantities of shea nuts, from which the butter is later extracted by using the chemical hexane is not environmentally or economically sustainable. Gathering shea fruits, extracting the nuts and producing the actual shea butter is a hard and laborious process so it imperative that those doing this job receive a fair percentage of the final price. It is also vital that this natural resource, so important and embedded in local tradition, is not taken from the control of those who live in the African Savanna.
Sources: Abanga Karite. Pobeda, Michael. 1999: Shea butter the revival of an African wonder. PhytoAfrica Group
Sources: Abanga Karite. Pobeda, Michael. 1999: Shea butter the revival of an African wonder. PhytoAfrica Group