Producer Profiles
UGCPA - Union Groupements Commercialisation Boucle Mouhoun
Landlocked Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world. About 90 percent of its population survives by working in agriculture, growing primarily sorghum, millet, maize and rice, and raising livestock. To help address the issue of rising poverty, The Women Producer’s Union of Shea Butter Products (UGPPK) in the Sissili and Ziro provinces of Burkina Faso, brings together an estimated 1,492 women members from 38 different villages. UGPPK is the first women-producer organization of Shea butter to become Fair Trade Certified™. The General Assembly at UGPPK prioritizes members’ education and productive improvements when allocating Fair Trade premiums.
Programs
Productive improvements
The UGPPK has implemented an efficient semi-industrial production process for churning shear nut butter based on traditional artisanal methods. Members bring their Shea butter from various locations to the centralized Production and Commercialization Center, where Shea butter is homogenized, filtered and stabilized.
