Thesis subject
Food uses of the shea tree – practices and research priorities
Close to 50 percent of the Beninese population live below the dollar-a-dayinternational poverty line. The dollar-a-day poverty line is based on the income required to provide the absolute minimum of nutrition, clothing, and shelter. Some 29 percent of children under 5 are malnourished, and life expectancy is 55 years.
Almost all those in poverty are in rural areas, relying on smallscale agriculture for their livelihoods and suffering because of poor land, inadequate rainfall, and insufficient income to purchase good seeds, fertilizer, and farm machinery. In 1998 Benin was ranked 157th on a list of 174 countries in the UN's Human Development Index, which combines measures of income, education, and health provision.
The economy of Benin is based essentially on the agricultural sector. About 70% of the population is involved in this sector, which provides about 36% of GNP and 88% of export income. Cotton has been for a long time the most important crop for exportation, providing 90% of the agricultural export value. Due to the national and international difficulties in cotton chains, the Beninese government has decided to encourage diversification of agricultural products for exportation. On this basis, different national development agencies (Cellule d’Appui Technique du Programme de Relance du Secteur Privé and Association pour le Développement de l’Exportation) have selected a number of crops and products to be promoted for production and export growth. These are: pineapple (Ananas comosus), cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale), shrimps, and shea butter (Butyrospermum parkii).
Shea butter is a slightly yellowish or ivory coloured natural fat extracted from the seed of the shea tree by crushing and boiling (see wikipedia). Shea butter is widely used in cosmetics asa moisturizer and salve. Shea butter is also grade edible; used in food preparation as well as sometimes in the chocolate industry substituting for cocoa butter. It is an acclaimed natural butter derived from the shea tree growing across Africa. The objective of this PDQ-MSc thesis project is to make an inventory of the food uses of the shea tree, the bottlenecks with respect to the quality of these and developing a research agenda to tackle these problems.
If you are interested in this topic, please contact Anita Linnemann for further information.
