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Good practice

L'OCCITANE pour Elles: Fair Trade Shea Cooperatives Empowering Rural Women

Burkina Faso · Ouagadougou · See the Burkina Faso profile

L'OCCITANE's Fair Trade shea-butter partnership with Burkina Faso's Nununa Federation cooperatives has empowered over 42,000 rural women, generating around US$1.23 million a year for 15,000 producers through 100% Fair-Trade, premium-priced sourcing since 2009.

42,000+
Women reached by 'pour Elles' programme (by 2021)
US$1.23 million per year
Annual revenue to supplier cooperatives (mid-2020s)
~15,000
Cooperative members benefiting
20-30%
Price premium paid vs conventional buyers
100%
Fair Trade / Fair for Life certified share of supply chain (since 2009)
300,000+
Women supported across wider Burkina Faso shea sector
$1,580 generated per $1,000 of shea nuts sold
Local economic multiplier
30+
Literacy centres established
L'OCCITANE pour Elles: Fair Trade Shea Cooperatives Empowering Rural Women

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
L'OCCITANE Foundation / Nununa Federation of Shea Producers
Period
1990s-present
Keywords
economic empowerment, agriculture, fair trade, cooperatives, rural livelihoods

Context

Since the 1990s, French cosmetics group L'OCCITANE has sourced shea butter directly from women's cooperatives in Burkina Faso, formalised via its corporate foundation (2006) and the 'L'OCCITANE pour Elles' programme (2016); the supply chain has been 100% Fair Trade / Fair for Life certified since 2009.

Results

L'OCCITANE reports paying 20-30% more than conventional buyers, generating about US$1.23 million a year for roughly 15,000 cooperative members; the foundation's wider 'pour Elles' programme (literacy centres, microcredit, business training) reported reaching over 42,000 women by 2021 against an original 33,000 target, with a goal of 60,000 by 2025. UN Africa Renewal separately reports shea supports over 300,000 women across Burkina Faso, and USAID village surveys found every $1,000 of shea nuts sold generates a further $1,580 in local economic activity.

Conclusions

The source frames this as a durable, 30-year commercial relationship anchored in third-party Fair Trade certification, giving it unusual independent verification compared to grant-funded pilots, while cautioning that gains across the wider ~300,000-women shea sector are uneven and depend on continued premium demand and price stability.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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