Alaffia: Fair Trade Bringing Life to Rural Africa

Fair Trade Bringing Life to Rural Africa

Olowo-n'djo Tchala

Editors note: Olowo-n'djo Tchala, founder of Alaffia, was in town last summer to speak directly with Twin Cities co-op staff members about his company and their products. Alaffia makes a variety of body care products that embody values of the heart as well as delivering fantastic skin and hair care. I asked Olowo-n'djo to educate our shoppers about his company, which deals with two women's cooperatives in Togo, West Africa.

My wife and I founded the Alaffia/Agbanga Shea Butter Cooperative in Togo in 2003. The motivation for our work is our life commitment to empower African women. My commitment comes from how I feel about my own mother's life. She works very hard on the farm, yet no one appreciates her time and skill simply because she does not know how to read and write in Western languages. Women across Africa deserve to be respected and economically compensated for their contributions to the world economy.

We wanted to help our communities become self sustaining, while maintaining our traditional knowledge and cultures, through community projects. To do this we needed money. We decided to use traditional shea butter since it is a sustainable resource that grows wild without fertilizer or irrigation. Our traditional knowledge of how to hand-extract the butter without the use of chemicals allows us to make the purest skin care products. The cooperative members, who had been excluded from the benefits of African resources, now make the decisions that can lead them out of poverty.

In Sokodé, central Togo, our shea butter cooperative has 83 members (80 women). This co-op produces traditionally hand crafted shea butter and other tropical oils for use in Alaffia finished products. Over the past four years, cooperative members have seen a shift in family equality. Our members are able to bring money back home to assist both their children and husbands.

In many cases, our members feel they have more voice and power in their families and communities. They also say the regular salary gives them more time, decreases their anxieties about providing for their children, and gives them a sense of freedom.

These are just a few highlights of the work Alaffia is doing in Togo:

Reforestation: Alaffia began a tree planting project in 2005. We purchase young trees and distribute them to small towns and villages. To date, we have distributed trees to more than 400 households in central Togo. We hope to plant more than 500 trees next year as the people in these communities are very serious and committed to this environmental project.

Shea Tree Conservation: Shea trees have traditionally been protected from cutting because their seeds yield valuable oil: shea butter. Recently, however, shea trees are being cut down at an alarming rate across West Africa. The loss of shea trees is very damaging to the environment and to the cultures and economies of our communities. In 2006, we began an awareness campaign on the benefits of protecting shea trees and building fuel efficient stoves. In addition, buying shea nuts at fair prices provides a long-term economic incentive for protecting shea trees in our communities.

Education: Students in Togo are required to provide their own school uniforms and books, which can be a daunting expense for poor families. For four years, we have donated school supplies and uniforms to more than 500 children in our communities.

One of our first projects was to donate "table-bancs" or bench seats to local schools. We are continuing this project in 2007 by donating bench seats to three different rural schools. Many schools in small towns in Togo do not have adequate seats in their classrooms. Alaffia has also donated and installed new metal roofs on two school buildings for the Agborodé public school in Agborodé, Togo. These rural schools were built by community members and had traditional straw roofs. While straw roofs are adequate, they must be replaced every two or three years. The donated roofs should last 15 years.

In many rural areas of Africa, school children walk an average of 10 miles a day to and from school. We launched the Bicycles for Better Education project in the summer of 2004. With the help of volunteers, we collect used bicycles to send to Togo and distribute to students in rural areas. We completed the first delivery of bicycles in July 2006. We collected and distributed over 400 used bicycles to students in central Togo. The bikes were distributed in 14 small towns and villages. We have collected more than a 1000 more bicycles, and will be shipping them in February 2008.

Medical care: Alaffia has been paying maternity expenses for forty women as a way to reduce birthing death rates. We now have 12 Alaffia babies! We have formed a partnership with the main Togo government-run clinic in Sokodé to help us with staffing and expertise in building the newly founded Alaffia Women's Clinic, which serves our second cooperative in southern Togo, that produces handwoven grass baskets.

Fair Trade and cooperatives are making traditional village life more viable in this global economy. We thank all our trading partners and customers.

Fine Alaffia products are available at the Wedge and online at www.WedgeWorldwide.coop. We'll gladly ship them for you to make your holiday shopping easier!

Learn more about Alaffia at www.alaffia.com