Design of financing mechanisms for women’s groups in the shea sector

Assessment of the needs of women’s groups in the shea value chain, and design of adapted financial services through value chain partnerships

Advans Ghana is a partner of the Shea Business Empowerment Program (SBEP), whose overall objective is to create 90,000 work opportunities for women experiencing poverty in the five Northern regions of the country by professionalizing the shea picking and processing activity through market linkages, funding, and capacity building. HORUS assisted the MFI in:

• Conducting an analysis of the shea value chain, through meetings with its key actors, and focus groups and interviews with cooperatives, women's groups, and traditional authorities to have a better understanding of women shea pickers’ financial needs and constraints in accessing financial services, with a focus on gender-related constraints
• Designing a loan product and a distribution strategy tailored to the needs and constraints of women shea pickers.