The Equator Initiative Prize
The Equator Initiative Prize is awarded every two years to local community initiatives in developing countries that support a project aimed at sustainable economic development through biodiversity conservation. The award is given in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and local governments.
For this 2022 edition, one of the women's communities supported by Noé's ECONOBIO project has been awarded. It is a community cooperative exploiting and transforming shea butter enterprise in Ghana (see end of article for more information).
A singular AWARD
This award is to be applauded and seen as a great victory for local communities in Ghana, as the award highlights the importance of indigenous people as defenders of a country's natural resources, as well as the crucial role they play in environmental conservation.
As winners, these women will receive US$10,000 and the opportunity to participate in a series of events associated with the UN General Assembly, the UNDP Nature for Life Centre, COP 27 of the UN Climate Convention in Egypt and COP 15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal.
Other award winners are from Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Gabon, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Mozambique and Argentina.
Finally, it is important to mention that four of the 2022 Prize winners, including Sunkpa Women, are women-led initiatives. All ten winners promote gender equality in their communities and all demonstrate the importance of placing traditional knowledge and nature-based solutions at the heart of local development.
The Sunkpa women's story
The Sunkpa Women's Cooperative, which operates in the Mole Ecological Landscape, is a group of 8 small women's associations with approximately 800 members. These women support sustainable shea management by collecting shea nuts and producing shea butter for local and international consumption.
Some cooperatives focus on collecting shea nuts and others on processing them (boiling/steaming, roasting, drying, milling, grinding and kneading by hand).
In order to improve product quality, ensure sustainable access to inputs and help them access wider markets, these women decided to expand their activities and integrate them into an organic shea value chain. The women's activities now include nurseries with a capacity of 700,000 seedlings managed by other women, with shea seedlings and other indigenous trees for the restoration and sustainable management of shea parks that will provide sustainable sources of shea nuts in the long term.
With the technical support of and a guaranteed market access by the Savannah Fruits Company, these women have been trained in organic shea butter production, certification, standards acquisition and quality assurance, ultimately producing organic shea butter ready for local and export markets.
Congratulations to the women of Sunkpa Shea!
