Key Argument: Export Ban Risks Shifting Profit From Women Pickers To Processors, Not The Government

SHEA postulation makes publication to the full income of agrarian households belonging to antithetic economical groups. Also, it quantifies the engagement of women successful Shea nuts and fruits postulation and processing.

Shea seed postulation provides women collectors accidental for upward economical mobility, women relationship for 90% of Shea seed postulation and are astatine the lowest extremity of the worth chain.

In Africa, the unsocial acquisition of each of the 16 cardinal agrarian women who marque a surviving from Shea seed inspires america much and much each day. Shea is an important crop, some economically and socially. It employs 4 cardinal women for export and generates astir USD 600 cardinal a twelvemonth successful income astatine the assemblage level successful West Africa. At the household level, Shea accounts for up to 12% of household income and up to 32% of currency available, which is earned during the thin season. Moreover, Shea seed postulation and processing were recovered to supply a invaluable root of currency income to pistillate household members who different person precise fewer income possibilities.

Shea seed postulation provides economical resilience successful word of income, assets and savings; Social resilience successful signifier of women determination constitution astatine home. It besides provides employment, medicinal benefits and nutrition.

Shea is important for agrarian women families and their livelihoods and for their generation. Shea postulation and processing is simply a mode for households to diversify their livelihood strategy and alteration their vulnerability to nutrient insecurity and clime variability.

The broad prohibition connected earthy shea seed exports creates an artificial marketplace operation successful which:

• Women pickers (who cod 90%+ of earthy nuts) are forced to merchantability locally,
• Local processors go the sole buyers, creating a monopsony (one buyer, galore sellers),
• Processors acquisition astatine artificially suppressed prices, expanding their margins,
• They export processed shea food (crude oregon semi-refined) astatine planetary prices—capturing the bulk of the profit.

In essence, the export prohibition does not make caller wealth—it reallocates existing wealthiness distant from the grassroots to the processing middlemen.

• In the unfastened market, women groups could negociate export contracts, enactment successful cooperatives, oregon payment from planetary demand-driven pricing.
• Under a ban, that state is removed, leaving them susceptible to exploitation by ascendant processors.
• They carnivore the economical daze of little prices portion processors bask risk-free profits.

This contradicts the intended goals of sex empowerment and poorness alleviation. As presently designed, the ban:

• Weakens agrarian women’s negotiating power, and
• Benefits concern processors, who whitethorn not reinvest profits locally oregon transparently.

• While Nigeria has a fewer industrial-scale processors and galore tiny cottage-level producers, these facilities unneurotic tin lone process a 100 of thousands of metric tons of shea nuts annually which is 1/3^rd of full shea seed production.
• The bulk of section processors are small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with constricted capital. They cannot rise capable funds to bargain specified monolithic volumes upfront.
• Purchasing shea nuts requires immense upfront payments during harvest season, erstwhile proviso peaks.
• Much of the harvested shea is near unprocessed domestically due to the fact that factories deficiency the capacity, technology, and concern needed to grip it.
• The lack of robust home processing and retention infrastructure results successful spoilage and important post-harvest losses.
• With Nigeria producing acold much shea than its industries tin absorb, farmers are near without capable home buyers, forcing a important information of nuts to stay unsold.

4. No Guarantee of Government Revenue

The existent argumentation model lacks mechanisms to guarantee that processors’ profits are taxed, regulated, oregon redistributed for nationalist benefit. Key risks:

• Processors whitethorn under-declare profits oregon displacement gross offshore,
• Informal and SME processors mightiness debar taxation obligations entirely,
• The authorities volition summation small oregon nary fiscal payment unless tied to robust taxation and compliance systems.

Without gross seizure policies, the government’s extremity of economical maturation becomes an illusion—growth for whom?

5. Encourages Rent-Seeking, Not Industrial Transformation

• With guaranteed earthy worldly entree astatine inexpensive prices (due to the ban), immoderate processors whitethorn deficiency inducement to put successful quality, innovation, oregon scaling capacity.
• The marketplace becomes uncompetitive and prone to rent-seeking behaviour:

o Low wage to pickers, o Minimal innovation, o Export-focused without home improvement benefits.

6. Policy Inversion: The Poor S...