Shea products are one of Nigerias high export commodities and have numerous economic uses. Every part of the shea tree has its uses. The pulp of the fruit is edible and the seeds when crushed yield vegetable oil that can be used in cooking, soap making, skin and hair care. The bark and root are used in traditional medicine. This study traces the shea butter value chain showing product flow and actor inter-linkages as well as analyzed the profit share of the various actors participating in the chain. A two-stage sampling techniques were employed to sample 120 respondents across the key value chain actors. The data for the study was collected using a structured and pretested questionnaire. The study revealed that collectors, processors, and marketers are the key actors that performed various functions in the product flow through the chain with some supporting institutions providing enabling environment for the shea butter development in the State. Collections of nuts, processing and marketing were revealed to be profitable with the marketers having 67%, collectors with 19.45% and processors with 13.55% of the profit share. Although the chain is well linked, upgrading is necessary to maximize resource use and improve sustainability. The factors that were found to sabotage actors efforts were inaccessibility to financial aid, high costs of transportation, poor processing equipment and storage facilities. Provision of easily accessible credit facilities, construction of shea centers as well as good access road will vastly improve the quality, prices and availability of shea products.
Key words: Shea butter, Value Chain, Mapping, Profit-Share and Nigeria
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