According to Iddi Zachariah, COCOBOD has paid little attention to Shea nut production in the three Northern Regions.

READ MORE: Separate Shea from COCOBOD - SNG

COCOBOD supervises the production of cocoa, Shea nut and coffee in the country.

“Shea-butter processing and extraction remains the major economic activity of most rural women. Given its medical, cosmetic and nutritional values, it is on high demand internationally and is expected to earn foreign income for rural women,” Zachariah told the Daily Guide Newspaper.

“We are therefore calling on government to give attention to the industry to benefit families which depend on the crop for sustenance,” he said.

Zachairah  has been advocating for the decoupling of the Shea sector from COCOBOD so as to give the sector the needed attention.

At a two-day workshop for selected journalist in Tamale in February, Zachariah said: “Cocoa and shea are quite different; they need different agencies and strategies to deal with their issues. Putting shea under Ghana Cocoa Board makes the sector retrogress.”

READ MORE: Two shea factories for the north - President Mahama

President Mahama has also promised to establish two new shea processing factories in the Upper East and Upper West regions when he addressed members of the Global Shea Alliance in their three-day international conference in Accra, Ghana.

The president said the two new factories, in addition to the one in Buipe, will help add value to the processing of shea in the country.