Sustainable Shea Butter
A couple months ago, I interviewed a man named Olowo-n’djo Tchala. Olowo-n'djo was born and raised in Togo, a west African nation. He lives in Washington state now and runs a nonprofit organization called Alaffia. Alaffia imports unrefined shea butter from Togo to the United States. Here in the U.S, the unrefined shea is made into beauty products.
Alaffia returns its revenue to Togo and the community that makes the shea butter. As the son of a shea-butter-producer, Olowo-n'djo grew up watching his mom work long, long, long hours for little, little, little pay.
For example, Olowo-n'djo told me that it takes about 20 hours to make 1 kilogram of shea butter. That 1 kilogram earns just $1 on the traditional global market. Of course, Alaffia is trying to change that. If you're interested, you can always pop on over and read my article about sustainable shea butter practices.
* photos © Alaffia
Labels: Africa, Giving Back, My Freelancing Life
posted by Kelly at
10:32 PM
4 Comments:
Correction: Alaffia is not a non-profit. It is a business, and as such makes profits. That being said, the business philosophy of Alaffia is to return as much of those profits as possible to Togo. There is a sister non-profit organization charged with outreach, fundraising, and program development related to the community enhancement projects in Togo. The non-profit is called Global Alliance for Community Empowerment. Check us out at http://www.empowermentalliance.org.
Thanks.
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for your redirect. I was impressed by all the work Olowo-n'djo, Alaffia and the Empowerment Allicance have done and are continuing to do. I'm always impressed when I come across real people changing the world in real ways.
Kelly
Okay... my other obsession is shea butter. Honestly! When I first discovered it about ten years ago I bought little pots of it for everyone I know. I'd also come home from work and wash up immediately, just so I could rub shea butter all over my face. I had a room mate at the time who thought this was pretty odd, but whatever! It made my skin glow. Actually, I am out of it at the moment and feeling a little testy.... Well, I am going to go read your article now.
Ali
I don't doubt for a SECOND that you rubbed shea butter all over your face and watched your skin glow!
Oh, Ali. I miss your quirky take on the pursuit of balanced health.
K
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