Editorial – Could Shea be the next gold for Ghana?

Abstract

In numerous shea producing regions of Ghana, rural women benefit significantly from the gathering, initial processing, and eventual selling of shea-based goods for their cash income. On a global scale, shea butter has emerged as a trendy ingredient in premium beauty products, due to its healing qualities, moving away from its traditional role as a cost-effective replacement for cocoa butter. International development organizations have focused on the shea value chain in Ghana as a component of their efforts to support private sector growth and decrease rural poverty. The shea value chain gives Ghanaian women the ability to take control of their financial, social, and entrepreneurial well-being, provide opportunities to earn money, enhance skills, and have more influence in their families and communities. Shea butter production in Ghana has the capacity to boost the productivity of shea butter enterprises, create employment opportunities for marginalized groups, particularly women, and ultimately support women’s empowerment by reducing poverty. Shea ecological zones contain a diverse range of plants and animals and play a key role in storing carbon. In addition to the ecological significance, the shea parklands and ecological zones hold significance as vital resources and symbols of identity, spirituality, and tradition for Ghanaians, contributing significantly to the nation’s cultural heritage. Shea butter from Ghana is highly desirable in global markets because of its superior chemical composition, derived from quality shea nuts. This means that Ghana can grow its shea industry, which will also increase foreign earnings. Therefore, shea could become the next gold for Ghana. In this regard, nature-based solutions and innovations can be employed to agronomically facilitate the supply of quality shea nuts to the shea industry. In alignment with this vision, a new open-access journal called ”Journal of Nature-based Solutions and Innovations” has been launched. This journal is targeted to inspire and communicate imaginative research and innovations in the intersection of nature, sustainability, and novel technology. It is aimed at targeting global challenges such as depletion of resources, loss of biodiversity, climate variability, and environmental degradation through encouraging and disseminating new perspectives that leverage the power of nature and human creativity to provide informed decisions. We welcome impactful submission of impactful papers. Come explore the intricacies of using nature-based solutions and innovations to solve societal and environmental problems.