As part of a pilot last year, we distributed more than 100 rollers in 11 communities in Burkina Faso. This enabled approximately 500 women to benefit from the rollers as they collected the shea nuts.

The shea roller is a tool to aid women in collecting shea nuts in the field, meant to increase efficiency, make the work less heavy and therefore contributing to their personal safety & health.

1. Safety: the women are less concerned about scorpion stings and snake and insect bites when using the rollers for collection. This eliminates the need to collect during dusk or dawn, which minimizes the risk of stings and bites, making collection moments more flexible.
2. Physical ease: the use of the roller makes the work easier, leading to less physical strain. Older women can return to participating in the collection, enabling them to contribute to the family income, which in turn has a positive impact on their self-esteem.
3. Speed/yield: less time is spent on collection. A higher yield is expected, since the shea nuts can be collected faster when rollers are used.

We have decided to continue the distribution in 2018. An additional 300 rollers will be distributed among women groups in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Benin.