An Ethnographic Study on Indigenous Shea Butter Extraction and the Use of the By-Products

Abstract

Indigenous knowledge practices are locally based systems of knowledge, uniquely associated with a group of people in a cultural setting. These practices, which have evolved over time generally, denote a broad and collective consciousness of the people, including their nature, habitats and interpersonal relationships. Indeed, this knowledge concept sustains the lives of the people. They depend on it to navigate as well as assail their everyday experiences, including in particular those that serve as serious threats to their livelihood. The processes involved in Shea butter extraction exemplify a shared body of indigenous knowledge system noted with the people of Northern Ghana. Unfortunately, many people are oblivious of the existence of such Shea butter industry. Consequently, there is no way they can have knowledge of the by-products that emerge from the industry let alone appreciate their uses. This study aimed to address the prevailing ignorance and especially fill the extant knowledge gap concerning the by products of local Shea butter extraction and their indigenous uses. An ethnographic method was adopted whereby 5 women, engaged in the production of Shea-butter, were purposively sampled. Data emerged from 2 primary sources, namely participatory observation and interview. Cross-cutting issues were delineated from the captured data. These were transcribed, documented and content analysed along the cross-cutting issues. The findings revealed the processes involved in Shea butter extraction as parboiling, drying, grating, frying, pounding, milling and stirring. Besides, the by-products of the extraction process were identified as ‘kabala’, used for plastering walls and floor making, and then ‘kaamuni’, employed in the generation of heat, lighting and fire making. Scientific concepts suggested to account for the manner the by-products are used included cohesion, adhesion, friction and bonding. It was concluded that further research needed to be conducted to explain and confirm these suggested scientific concepts. Keywords: Indigenous knowledge, shea butter, shea nuts.