Burkina Faso’s shea butter producers go online

The initial goal of the project when it was first set up in September 2005 was to improve the flow of information between the central offices of Song-Taaba Yalgré (ASY, www.songtaab.net) in the capital, Ouagadougou, and its 2,000 members in two rural areas. Over the last two years, it has achieved this and much more. “We have taught women how to use the Internet - how to navigate, search for new markets, send emails - a little bit of everything. Not only literate women, but also illiterate women. [..] There are plenty of illiterate young women in the rural villages who can learn how to use new media” explains Marcéline Ouedragaou, President and founder of Song-Taaba Yalgré.

The project set up small information centres called Maisons d'informations et de Promotion du karité (MIPROKA) in areas such as Boussa and Saponé. The main target group is the women who produce Karité (Shea Butter) and a few hundred direct users in these areas. ICT equipment was also installed at Song-Taaba Yalgré’s headquarters to improve the flow of information to and from its headquarters.  

The process that led to the establishment of the MIPROKAs was outlined by Marcéline Ouedragaou as follows: “In 2004, we developed the idea to set up a house for promoting karité products. Why MIPROKA? We were told there was a need for a framework that would focus entirely on promoting and selling karité products. That was when the project, which is financed and supported by IICD, came into being. [Through the project we were given] computers, some production material and equipment such as a photocopier for the women, computers, mobile phones. IICD also helped to train these women.”

ICT and multimedia training for rural women

The women who manage the MIPROKAs have very low ICT skills so they need to receive special training. Several workshops have therefore been organised on their behalf, including one on basic ICT skills training at the end of 2006 and one on multimedia. The multimedia training course targeted 15 rural women from Boussé and Saponé who are involved in the project and taught them how to use digital cameras, scanners, video cameras and multimedia editing software as well as how to upload the images into the computer.

Using ICT to boost the shea butter sector

It is hoped that by improving internal and external communication flows in this way, shea butter production levels will increase and more and more women will be able to produce and sell this product, thereby improving their income. In practical terms, the project has already gone a long way towards helping individual shea butter producers and the shea sector as a whole, namely:

• By setting up a Shea Information Centre for shea producers, researchers and students. The centre produces regular reports on shea butter issues and, thanks to the ICT training they received through the project, Song-Taaba Yalgré members have been able to compile a database on shea production.
• By developing radio programmes on shea-related issues such as shea production methods, rural women and ICT, multiple uses of shea, supply and demand in the shea industry, awareness raising about the importance of protecting shea trees, quality issues and standards relating to shea butter.
• By producing multimedia training materials such as videos, CD-ROMS, digital photos, etc. to train members on shea nut collection techniques, conservation, and processing the nut into butter. Some of these materials are for sale in the MIPROKAs.
• By regularly updating the Song-Taaba Yalgré website - www.songtaaba.net
• By publishing a quarterly news bulletin in both French and Mooré, the local language. The newsletter reports on the activities carried out by Song-Taaba Yalgré and its members and is distributed, free of charge, among members and partner organisations.
• By providing ICT and management training to the rural women who run the MIPROKA centres.
• By raising awareness among the general public about the many different shea products that are available and their benefits.
• By helping Song-Taaba Yalgré’s 2,000 members to boost their revenue via increased publicity and by opening up new markets;

Within just two years, this project has empowered scores of rural women to access and send information using the latest information and communication technologies (ICTs). In the words of Noélie Ouédraogo, project coordinator of MIPROKA:
‘Women do not have to hurry to town anymore to pass on information. They can make a phone call, send an email, even use SMS to communicate’.