Thesis
Constraints at the bottom of a global commodity chain: the case of shea butter in northern Ghana
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2009
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/100856
Abstract
Shea butter has a variety of traditional uses for people living in a five thousand kilometer stretch of African savannah, which includes northern Ghana. The production of shea butter plays an integral role in the lives of women in this region. As shea butter becomes increasingly desired globally, many development projects in northern Ghana have begun to focus on shea and how to bring rural women into the international market as a means of increasing income and "empowering" women. Development agencies involved with shea butter related projects act as if there is unlimited growth potential in the market for this product. They ignore critical constraints that take place at the beginning of the commodity chain, the village and individual levels. This paper explores these issues, which include both cultural and environmental factors as well as concerns regarding hegemonic relationships between stakeholders. It presents a critical examination of the solutions that have been proposed by development agencies and shea butter buying companies. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of how shea butter processors in Ghana make decisions regarding production of and markets for their commodity.
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Details
- Title
- Constraints at the bottom of a global commodity chain
- Creators
- Kyla Ruth Rudnick
- Contributors
- John H. Bodley (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525145801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis