Read on for a chance to win a gift basket filled with Alaffia body care products.

I would like to begin by first expressing my gratitude and thanks to Whole Foods Market and her customers.  At this same time last year, I wrote an overview on how Whole Foods support of our EveryDay Shea line has positively impacted our disadvantaged communities in Togo. I am pleased to report that the impact continues, as was evident during my recent three week trip to Togo to visit our shea butter cooperative and community project sites.

However, this trip was also a vivid reminder that we must do more. When I think of the current issues that my continent faces, it is debilitating. All economic indications point to the fact that the continent is deteriorating.  Since my last visit, I can see firsthand that Togo follows this trend: trash and plastic are pervasive throughout the landscape, deforestation and other environmental issues are now more serious than ever, economic disparities are widening, and cost of living is increasing while incomes remain stagnant or decline. In spite of these issues, just as we were the day we founded our organization, we remain determined that the overwhelming issue of poverty cannot intimidate us from honestly attempting to mitigate human suffering in our communities.

This leads me to why I am writing to you in the first place – to share with you what has happened during the past year because of your support of EveryDay Shea.  In addition to maintaining the new cooperative members recruited in 2009 and 2010, we were able to collect and distribute over 500 bicycles to encourage young women to stay in school and build our first biogas system to reduce fuel wood use. In addition, we were also able to plant 1,000 trees, and set aside enough funds from sales of EveryDay Shea in 2010 to propagate and plant another 4,000 trees this year. Furthermore, we decided to increase the number of women in our maternal health project from 100 to 400. This means that now 400 women will not become part of the 280,000 that die each year in West Africa from complications due to pregnancy and childbirth.  Finally, we now have recruited another 18 women to join our shea butter cooperative. Because of the extended family structure in Togo, over 200 people will be supported on this income.  All of these accomplishments are a great encouragement for me to continue our efforts.

During my trip to Togo, I also had the opportunity to visit with some of the women that joined our cooperative last year and talk with them about changes in their lives since joining the cooperative.  The following are excerpts from our discussions.

Zebera Tchagoumi:

“My name is Zebera Tchagoumi. Joining the cooperative last year has relieved my worries about how to support my family. I was planning to travel to Niger to work and save money for my children. Now, I don’t have to worry and all my five children are in high school.  I enjoy working at the cooperative, and I like all the different things I get to do each day.  And on market day, I see my friends who are still struggling, and they see a change in me and wish they could join the cooperative as well.  I am very happy to be able to tell all of you how much I appreciate your help, and I hope our efforts become even stronger – to bring more bikes and have more women join the cooperative so they can benefit as I have.”

Selifa Ganiou:

“My name is Selifa Ganiou, and I joined the cooperative last year.  Before my integration into the cooperative, I moved to Benin to work in the capitol city and was without my children and my husband.  Now, since I am at the cooperative for the last year, I thank God that I find it possible to support the needs of my family. For example, I was able to save the life of my older brother thanks to the money that I make.  I have seven children; four are presently in school.  When the other three were school age, I was not able to live with them and did not have the means to keep them in school.  I would like to thank everyone who supports our cooperative and encourage them to take a strong hand to live happily with their families, like I am able to now that I am with the cooperative and no longer have to travel to find work.”

Agnanetou Kadiri:

“My name is Agnanetou Kadiri. I have been with the cooperative for over a year now, and have seen a positive change in my life.  I do not have to suffer too much to gain enough for my daily bread.  Before joining the cooperative, I had a small stall at the market, but was never able to save any money. For the last year, thanks to my work, I am able to send my two children to school and each month I add to my savings account at work and save some at home, too.  I am also able to support my mother, who is very old and requires a lot of care.”

Ramatou Djelilou:

“I am Ramatou Djelilou and I am happy to talk with you.  With the money I earn from the cooperative, I am able to provide for my needs and those of my four children.  Since I began work, I notice that I have more respect from my husband. Thanks to my work, I can pay for my oldest two children to go to school; the other two are not school age yet.  I thank all of our friends in the United States, and hope they continue to support Alaffia so my children can have bicycles to go to school.”

In summary, once again I would like to extend my gratitude to all of you; your support has made all of our 2010 accomplishments possible. During this trip, I was often asked if it wasn’t naïve of me to believe that the optimal road for African communities to rise out of poverty is to rely on our traditional knowledge and participating in ethical trade. Many of my fellow Togolese feel that we must follow the footsteps of emerging economies like China and India and rely on heavy industry and technology. In addition to the fact that the earth cannot sustain both the social and environmental degradation the conventional economic model creates, my response has been to show examples of what we have been able to do, and also show the sense of self-worth individuals and communities have from accepting and valuing our cultural heritage and resources. To me, it is more important in the long run that communities and societies can sustain themselves than individuals have quick profit.  In the end, consumers in Western societies, through their choices and consumption patterns, can have great impact on poverty alleviation in producer communities.  I am pleased to say that the past couple years have shown me that our customers and retailers care about alleviating poverty, and this care will ultimately lead to a safer world – not only on the continent of Africa, but in communities around the world.

For a chance to win a gift basket filled with Alaffia body care products, enter a comment by February 22nd telling us how you use your purchases to help change the world. One comment will be selected at random to receive an Alaffia gift basket.

Olowo-n’djo Tchala is the Founder and Director of Alaffia. In appreciation for our customers supporting their mission, he asked if they could please give away a lovely gift basket along with this blog post. Of course! So, given that February is Whole Trade Month here at Whole Foods Market and Alaffia is one of our wonderful Whole Trade vendors, enter a comment below by February 22, 2010, telling us what you like best about purchasing Whole Trade products. (Need a reminder about the benefits? Check out this Whole Trade Month post.) We’ll select one comment at random to win the Alaffia gift basket.

Alaffia: Empowering Women and Preserving Cultural Knowledge in West Africa through the Fair Trade of Handcrafted Shea Butter.

In 2003, my wife and I founded Alaffia with the sole objective of using traditional knowledge to empower individuals and communities in West Africa. We formulate skin care products with shea butter handcrafted by our women’s cooperative in Togo. Sales from these products provide direct economic opportunities for the most disadvantaged women in central Togo and also fund community empowerment projects in our local communities.

In late 2008, due to the global economic slowdown, we created EveryDay Shea in order to continue employing the 300 Alaffia Cooperative members in Togo. The Alaffia Cooperative is the first stable employment these women have ever had, and for the past five years they and their families have relied on the income they receive from the cooperative. While the economic slowdown is painful to many families in the West, it is even more difficult for individuals and families in poorer countries who already live on the edge.

EveryDay Shea is our value line of fair trade certified 32 oz shea butter body and hair care products that retail under $14. Our nationwide introduction of EveryDay Shea in January 2009 was made successful by the support of Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods Market is our largest customer and their willingness to retail EveryDay Shea had an immediate impact on our shea butter cooperative. The demand for shea butter that it created enabled us to maintain membership, and we even added members for the first time in five years. In May 2009, we added four experienced shea butter crafters, and in July, we recruited an additional five young members.

To me personally, the addition of the five young women to the cooperative is the most meaningful achievement of EveryDay Shea. Adding young people to the cooperative means that they will learn traditional knowledge and crafts, which are vanishing throughout the West African savanna. Most young people in our communities no longer value traditions and cultural knowledge due to the impact of economic and cultural globalization. I strongly believe that maintaining traditional crafting is not only sustainable, but is the greatest opportunity that African communities have in getting out of poverty.

For instance, like the majority of African women born prior to 1960, my mother cannot read or write in any western languages. Therefore, my mother and her peers are excluded from the economic system. However, if we consider their traditional crafting knowledge as economically valuable, then their skills are useful to the system. Valuing the skills of these women allows them to provide for their families, which provides a sense of self independence as they are no longer forced to rely on outside aid for survival. Furthermore, African states are not industrialized. In fact, they should not become industrialized in the model of the United States, Europe, and now Asia. The only sensible option for us is to focus on our traditional knowledge and indigenous resources embedded with moral trade practices. This paradigm can only be realized with a distribution platform for these traditional crafts and resources. In Alaffia’s case, Whole Food Market provides an important opportunity by making our traditionally based products available to the public.

My experience being born and raised in abject poverty in central Togo and my interactions with various societies around the world have convinced me that reducing poverty and bringing about gender equality in West Africa can only be achieved through trading African resources at fair value. The impact of EveryDay Shea, from the response of our customers in the United States to the effect on our cooperative in Togo, strengthens my conviction that it is possible for poor communities to become self sustaining without the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Don’t forget to enter your comment for a chance to win an Alaffia gift basket.

By February 22, 2010, tell us what you like best about purchasing Whole Trade products. (Need a reminder? Check out this Whole Trade Month post.) We’ll select one comment at random to win the Alaffia gift basket.

Photo References:

Alaffia Founder Olowo-n’djo Tchala with new Alaffia Cooperative Members, August 2009.
Alaffia Cooperative Member Assibi Rahamatou, May 2009
Alaffia Cooperative Member Salifatou Ganiou, May 2009
Alaffia Cooperative Member, Yina Zibera Tchagouni, May 2009
Alaffia Cooperative Member Adjaratou Kadiri, May 2009

And the winner is… (announced 02/23/10):

Jackie L:

I like that the products provide the opportunity for less advantaged people groups to have a job and skill that enables them to provide for their family in some way. I’m glad that Whole Foods doesn’t just go with the huge corporations, but touches the world with support.

Six months ago, while on the road I received a suggestion from Justin Miloro (Global Associate Whole Body Coordinator) for Alaffia to propose an exclusive Fair Trade gift basket to Whole Foods for the holidays.  I remember feeling a little fever at this moment, as my mind went immediately to the Alaffia Basket Cooperative in Togo.  I went directly to contact Togo, and a week later we had a prototype basket to present to Justin. Upon his approval, we immediately began weaving the baskets in Togo. We invited 16 women from the Bolga region of Ghana to join the 100 Alaffia basket weavers. After two weeks of production, we realized that even with 116 women, we would not be able to make enough baskets on time since each basket takes an average of three days to complete.  Our cooperative director, Limata Gbadamassi made a trip to the northern Ghana Bolga region to meet with more basket coops.   For the next three months, more than 350 women worked to complete the gift basket order.

These Alaffia basket weavers in Sokodé, Togo came from Ghana to provide extra help to fulfill the holiday basket order.

This is exactly why I felt feverish when I first thought about making the gift baskets.  The baskets presented a great opportunity to provide more jobs at a time when food prices had just increased by 150% in West Africa. More importantly, it was also a great opportunity to help further Alaffia’s mission to preserve our cultural knowledge.  These baskets have been made in Togo and northern Ghana for centuries, and this project encourages the preservation of this knowledge.

One basket cooperative in the Bolga region of Ghana that helped weave the Alaffia holiday baskets works together under large Baobab trees.

In addition to the cultural benefit of these baskets, they are also environmentally sustainable.  They are made from native Gamba grass that is wild-harvested from uncultivated areas.  Our baskets are 100% biodegradable, helping to reduce waste in landfills.  We also designed them so they will be useful after the holidays and after the lotion, soap and shea butter have been removed. Some ideas for possible uses include lunch box, jewelry container, food storage as we do in Togo, sewing or knitting box, or even a small garbage can.  I believe we can continue to live on this world with 7 billion other people only if goods and materials are designed for more than one use.  Earth simply does not have enough resources for single use items.

Olowo-n’djo Tchala visited Alaffia’s basket cooperative in Blitta, Togo during his trip in September. Here he reviews Whole Foods holiday baskets in progress.

To me, the most exciting part of this Alaffia gift basket is that they are not mass produced in a factory. Every single basket can be traced back to exactly where it is made. Each weaver puts her unique touch in color and detail weaving; every single finished basket is unique as well.  These baskets can be considered a form of art, a piece of our cultural heritage.  They are an opportunity for cooperative members to put food on their tables and support their families in a place where average income is less than $200 per year.

Furthermore, Alaffia uses at least 10% from the sales of these baskets, like all our products, for our community enhancement projects in our West African communities.  Because these baskets are fair trade, there are no middlemen involved.  The chain of custody is clear: First, Alaffia receives an order from Whole Foods Markets. Then, we send this order to the Alaffia Basket Cooperative in Togo and the baskets are woven. When the baskets are finished, we ship them to our Olympia, WA facility where we add the lotions, shea butter and soaps. The finished baskets are then shipped to Whole Foods Markets across the USA.  The reduced chain of custody and lack of middlemen mean that the women who weave the baskets receive a greater percentage of the final selling price and we are able to continue our community projects.

Alaffia handwoven baskets stacked and waiting to be packed for transport in Blitta, Togo.

It is with greatest sincerity that I thank Whole Foods for the opportunity to make these baskets and thank as well Whole Foods customers, whose purchases will help us continue our social mission to preserve culture, promote gender equality and reduce poverty in our West African communities.

On behalf of all the Alaffia cooperative members, I wish you a peaceful and pleasant holiday season.

I would like to begin by thanking all of you that have either directly or indirectly supported us and made our projects possible. It is clear that without your support, our commitment to bettering lives in Togo would not be possible. My main intentions for this post are to thank all of you for your support and to take the opportunity to tell you about my most recent trip to Togo and Ghana.

Son of Alaffia cooperative member dances as part of ceremony honoring the cooperative and its efforts in central Togo communities.

This was a deeply emotionally challenging trip, primarily due to the state of human condition and a testing of my commitment. Two weeks before I left for Togo on September 3, 2008, Togo was hit with major monsoon rains. The flooding that followed displaced more than 20,000 families, destroyed countless fields, and washed out a large bridge on the main north-south road – cutting off supplies and fuel to Togo and countries to the north. Escalating fuel and food costs had already put a strain on local economies, and these floods have made it even more difficult for families to feed themselves. With food a primary concern, families are not able to even think about the expense of sending their children to school. Before the huge increases in fuel and food prices, school was already a huge expense for the majority of Togolese families. Now, it has become even more difficult for them.

Line of vehicles waiting to pass over temporary bridge put up after flood waters destroyed the main bridge on Togo’s north-south highway.

Seeing the devastation in Togo caused by a combination of natural and economic disasters has only strengthened my resolve to improve conditions in my communities. The recent global economic crisis has only increased my commitment to continuing our community empowerment projects, since the impact is greatest on the world’s poorest.

I scheduled my visit to Togo in September to coincide with the arrival of the three containers of bicycles that we shipped in July. However, upon my arrival, the shipping company informed me that the containers had been delayed. They finally arrived after I had already returned to the U.S. This changed the focus of the trip to our education and health projects. With the help of the cooperative members, we built and donated table-benches to three extremely impoverished schools, donated school supplies to over 100 families in flood-affected areas, and visited the 40 women who are recipients of this year’s Fousena Fund for prenatal care. We also decided to sponsor a teacher for one village who had come together to build a school, but could not afford the salary for a teacher.

Olowo-n’jdo Tchala with the school and government officials at Koloumi for desk donations.

As part of our follow-up and to prepare for the arrival of this year’s bicycles, we met with past and future recipients of bicycles. The chief of Kinizao, one village that received bicycles from our previous shipment, remarked that teenage pregnancy is down in his village since girls were given bicycles. Students, too, read letters of appreciation for the bicycles, explaining how the bikes have helped them to continue and excel in school.

One great positive of this trip to Togo was to see how the Alaffia shea butter cooperative has empowered its members and their communities. Even in this time of economic difficulty, the cooperative members are able to feed their families, pay for school, and continue saving in their microcredit program. We were honored with a ceremony put on by over 15 villages – where cooperative members, village chiefs and community members expressed their thanks with dances and speeches. We are continually receiving requests to set up cooperatives in other areas of Togo, and met with various organizations producing handicrafts, coffee, and other indigenous goods. We hope to incorporate some of these into Alaffia in the near future.

During his visit, Olowo-n’djo met with this year’s recipients of the Fousena fund prenatal care.

These community projects continue only with the financial support of Alaffia customers and retailers who purchase Alaffia products. With each purchase, you directly support the salaries and empowerment of the members of our cooperative as well as our community projects. Some of you have also donated directly for special projects, especially for our donations to families affected by the September floods.

Recipient of school supplies donated by Alaffia. Over 20,000 families were forced from their homes by monsoon flooding in September. Flood waters were receding, but the destruction was still evident.

Thank you very kindly for these donations and your continued support of our products. I plan to return to Togo within the next six months for the distribution of the bicycles, and I will bring you more updates then.

Peace,
Olowo-n’djo

Learn more about how fairly traded, handcrafted Shea Butter benefits the communities that produce it as well as the communities that purchase it.