This Issue Contains:
SHEA BUTTER & SEASONALITY
AGBANGA KARITE SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED
AGBANGA KARITE PARTICIPATES IN TOGO TRADE FAIR
OCTOBER SPECIALS
AFRICA ISSUES
FAIR TRADE ISSUES

SHEA BUTTER & SEASONALITY
We are often asked if shea butter production in West Africa is seasonal. Shea nut gathering is seasonal because shea nuts are seasonal. In central Togo, shea fruits start to ripen from early March through May. By June, the fruits are fully ripe and begin falling to the ground. The gathering season lasts from late May through September, a period that coincides with the rainy season. This is one reason that gathering shea nuts is such a laborious task, since the grass is often quite high. For this reason, the Fulandé of central Togo graze their cows in the areas they gather shea nuts to keep the grass down. The cows also benefit from eating the fruit. The shea fruit is sweet and very high in vitamin C when fully ripened.

At the end of September, the rains stop and the shea trees begin to loose some of their leaves in preparation for the dry season. During the dry season, wild fires burn a large part of the savanna. The thick, fissured bark of the shea tree protects it from these fires.

Back to our discussion of the seasonality of shea butter production. In our experience, most shea butter produced for export is seasonal and occurs in the early dry season just after the end of the gathering season. In this case, a wealthy elite from the capital or regional city will go to the countryside and buy thirty or forty tons of shea nuts. He will then pay local women a marginal amount to make a container load of shea butter, which he exports to Europe or North America. However, butter production for local markets is not seasonal. Regional producers dry and store shea nuts for a whole year's production. Agbanga Karite follows the local producer model. We produce for both the local and export markets. We can achieve year round production because we have good storage facilities and we dry our nuts very thoroughly. Laboratory experiments have shown that well-dried shea nuts can last up to 5 years. In addition, our experience has shown that well dried nuts make a creamier butter, and we are able to extract the maximum amount of oil possible by traditional methods. More importantly, by producing year round, we have fresh butter continuously.

AGBANGA KARITE SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED
The Agbanga Karite Group has awarded two full year scholarships to local university students, Akomaola OIYE and Aminou KANDE. Both are second year students at the Universite du Benin in Lome. Aminou is studying mathematics and engineering. Akomaola is studying social law.

AGBANGA KARITE PARTICIPATES IN TOGO TRADE FAIR
The Agbanga Karite Group sponsored and participated in the first annual nationwide trade fair for Togolese organizations held in Kpalime, Togo this past July. Limata GBADAMASSI of the Agbanga Karite Group was a featured speaker and gave a presentation on the organizational model of the Group and how other Togolese organizations could use similar structure. Check our website in the coming weeks for a video and/or photos of the trade fair.

OCTOBER SPECIALS
New products have just arrived from Togo, including Kpangnan ("golden shea butter") and Extra Virgin Cocoa Butter. Fresh shipments of our unrefined shea butter, virgin coconut oil, virgin palm kernel oil, red palm oil and African Black Soap have also arrived.

To help you with your preparations for the holiday season, Agbanga Karite is pleased to offer readers of our newsletter 5% off all orders over $50 and 10% off all orders over $100. This offer is good until October 31, 2004. To redeem this offer, please call 1-800-664-8005 to place your order and mention your username and the promotional code: INA10

AFRICA ISSUES
Struggles continue in Sudan, where genocide is taking place while the majority of the world stands by. Read more and take action. Read the latest articles on the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs website:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43477&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=SUDAN

Tune into the BBC World Service on Monday, October 11 to hear a special on what happens when African countries discover oil under their soil. You can listen to the BBC live at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml

FAIR TRADE ISSUES
You can help get supermarkets to do more to make Fair Trade coffee, tea, cocoa, and fresh fruit widely available by joining CO-OP America's Supermarket Campaign. Learn how at http://www.fairtradeaction.org

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Copyright 2004-2005 Agbanga Karite Group

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