From Boardroom to Farmland: When Global Policy Met Women’s Shea Trees in Northern Ghana
As part of the just ended Government-to-Government (G2G) negotiations between Germany and Ghana, a high-level delegation from Germany stepped out of the conference room and into the shea fields of northern Ghana, over 700 KM from Ghana’s capital city, witnessing firsthand how development cooperation is transforming the lives of women at the grassroots.
For the women of the Wungu Sugru Nya Bune Shea Cooperative, it was more than a courtesy call. It was a moment when development cooperation quite literally met the ground.
The high-level delegation comprised representatives from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Foreign Office, the German Embassy in Ghana, and GIZ Headquarters. Their mission was simple but powerful: to see, feel, and understand how development cooperation is changing lives beyond negotiation tables.
They pitched camp at the Women Shea Business Cooperatives project, implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH through the develoPPP funding programme and the Special Initiative on Decent Work for a Just Transition, on behalf of BMZ, in partnership with Bunge Loders Croklaan (Bunge) B.V. and Stichting Agriterra.
Here in the West Mamprusi District of the North East Region, women have long relied on shea trees scattered across the savannah for their livelihoods. What is new is the way they now operate, well organised into cooperatives, professionally trained, and strategically linked to global markets.
Since its launch in 2024, the project has helped establish four women-led cooperatives. The next phase will equip cooperatives with improved processing skills, secure access to storage, and energy-efficient cookstoves that reduce smoke, labour, and emissions.
By 2027, the project aims to reach almost 3,000 women along the shea value chain, equipping them with targeted training in quality nut processing, cooperative management and market readiness. For these women, skills development is not abstract; it is the difference between subsistence and stability.
“This is development you can see and touch,” said Maya Heydenreich, Senior Policy Officer at BMZ, who led the delegation. “Women are earning more, working more safely, and protecting the environment at the same time.”
The delegation was formally received by the Chief of Wungu, where greetings were exchanged. For community members, the visit carried deep meaning.
“When leaders come here, it shows our work matters,” one cooperative member excitedly shared.
The project is also laying the foundation for long-term resilience. Over 2,000 members of the newly created cooperatives are expected to benefit from access to administrative systems and digital traceability tools by 2027, enabling transparent record-keeping, stronger bargaining power and improved access to formal markets. These systems help transform informal work into recognised economic activity ensuring women are visible not only in their communities, but across global value chains.
As a pot of boiling shea nuts bubbled steadily over a fire, a group of women leaned in, wooden paddles moving in slow, practiced circles. Then, something unexpected happened: visitors in crisp shirts and formal shoes stepped forward, sleeves rolled up and joined the stirring. Delegates asked questions about fuel sources, temperatures, and the long hours women spend processing nuts by hand. The project directly addresses these challenges. Before the project ends in 2027, over 2,000 women are expected to benefit from improved working conditions, including safer processing environments and reduced physical strain. At the same time, the introduction of hundreds of energy-efficient cookstoves will significantly reduce reliance on firewood cutting CO₂ emissions, lowering fuel costs and improving women’s health.
Discussions soon turned to cleaner energy alternatives and how different GIZ programmes, particularly the energy project, could work together.
Later, the delegation witnessed the sale of shea nuts within the community. Women negotiated prices confidently, supported by transparent buying arrangements with Bunge, the project’s private-sector partner. Once purchased, the shea kernels are transported to local crushing facilities, where they are processed into shea butter. From there, the butter moves on to Bunge Industries, where it is refined into shea oleine, stearine and specialty shea butter, ingredients that ultimately find their way into food and cosmetic products on global markets.
For many of the women, this structure has brought predictability and dignity. By project term in 2027, almost 3000 women are projected to benefit from an average income increase of 10 percent, strengthening household food security and resilience.
Afisha Nantogma Sugru Nya Bune Shea Cooperative Secretary explained, “before, the price was not good, now the quality of the nuts has improved, we get a better price.”
In Wungu, the partnership revealed a clear triple win: women strengthening their livelihoods, the private sector securing a reliable and sustainable supply, and development cooperation delivering impact that is measurable, scalable and lasting.
“Behind every agreement are real people,” said Kirsten Nyman, the GIZ Head Quarters Country Manager for Ghana. “When women thrive, communities thrive and that is the true measure of successful cooperation.”
As Germany and Ghana continued their G2G negotiations, the visit to Wungu offered more than project updates. It offered perspective.
