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.