Rising global demand reshapes livelihoods, land access, and resource control

The global appetite for shea butter—used widely in cosmetics and as a substitute for cocoa butter—has surged dramatically since the early 2000s, expanding the industry by more than 600% over two decades. Often promoted by global companies, development agencies, and NGOs as a pathway to women’s economic empowerment, the shea sector employs an estimated 16 million women across West Africa. But new research suggests that the benefits of this boom are far from evenly shared.

The shea tree grows across a vast “shea belt” stretching from Senegal to South Sudan. Semi-domesticated and rarely planted, the trees are traditionally protected within farmland or found on communal bushland. For generations, women have collected shea fruits under customary systems that treated the resource as semi–open access, allowing community members—especially women—to harvest according to need.

That system is now under strain.

Growing Demand, Shrinking Access

Research conducted in Burkina Faso and Ghana—two of the world’s leading exporters of dry shea kernels—shows that rising international demand has intensified competition for access to shea trees. Surveys of more than 1,000 women collectors across 24 communities revealed that over 85% had seen an increase in the number of collectors in their communities over the past decade.

At the same time, communal land traditionally used for shea collection is shrinking. Agricultural expansion, mechanisation, population growth, and peri-urban development have steadily reduced bushland areas that once served as vital safety nets for land-poor women.

As land becomes scarcer and more valuable, access to shea trees is increasingly tied to private land ownership. More than half of surveyed collectors reported that access to private fields has become more restricted, with landowners enforcing boundaries more tightly. Conflicts over trespassing have become more common, further excluding women without strong land claims.

Inequality Among Women Collectors

The research distinguishes three groups of women involved in shea collection: dedicated collectors who rely entirely on shea for income; diversified collectors who combine shea with farming or other activities; and collector–traders who both gather nuts and buy from others to resell later.

Dedicated collectors—often the poorest—are the most vulnerable. Only 16% collect shea from their own fields, leaving them heavily dependent on shrinking communal land. Diversified collectors have somewhat better land access but less time to collect, while collector–traders benefit from stronger land rights, household support, and access to capital. More than half of collector–traders receive assistance from men for transporting nuts or guarding fields, giving them a clear competitive advantage.

The result is widening inequality within the collector population, even as the overall value of the shea industry grows.

More Labour, Limited Returns

Despite higher global prices, most women collectors are not earning significantly more. Fewer than half reported an increase in shea income over the past 10 years. Average annual earnings from shea remain low—around US$174 (purchasing power parity).

For poorer women, limited access to trees constrains how much they can collect. Immediate cash needs often force them to sell nuts early in the season at low prices, while better-off traders can store kernels and sell later for higher returns.

Rethinking Women’s Empowerment Narratives

The findings challenge the popular “win-win” narrative that global market integration automatically empowers rural women and reduces poverty. While the shea boom has created new opportunities, it has also reinforced existing inequalities tied to land access and financial resources.

Researchers argue that genuine empowerment will require more than market access. Strengthening women’s land and tree rights, supporting collective organisation, improving access to finance, and investing in infrastructure such as storage facilities could help rebalance power within the value chain. Women collectors themselves have also called for changes in farming practices to protect the shea resource for future generations.

As global demand for shea butter continues to rise, the challenge for policymakers and development actors is clear: ensuring that the women at the heart of the industry are not left competing for fewer trees while others reap the rewards.