COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on shipping containers from Ghana to North America and, unfortunately, it has put us out of stock on some sizes of cocoa butter and coconut oil until about mid-April. Our apologies. We know you depend on us and we always want to be there for you. Unfortunately, we were blindsided by delays in container shipping that started… [read more]
Baraka Cocoa Butter Bits
Cocoa Butter is great, except when you have to break a block of it into usable sized pieces so you can measure it for your recipes. Watch as Baraka co-Founder Wayne shows how Baraka Cocoa Butter bits are made (and waves around a big knife!) #KnowYourProducts – a series of informational posts about Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, Palm… [read more]
Hand-Harvesting Cocoa Pods
Watch and listen as this video shows a hard-working Ghanaian lady hand-harvesting cocoa pods from her small holder cocoa farm. Each pod is gathered by hand, hand-carried to village processing areas and then split open the beans extracted, fermented and dried to get it ready to be made into Cocoa Butter (see more on this process here https://youtu.be/nosPqyIhJMI) Baraka Cocoa… [read more]
Whipping the Shea
Whipping Shea Butter (not the whipping you think!) Your shea needs to be whipped like this before you can make your lovely whipped body butters and other products Whipping (or churning) Shea Butter is a key step in making it. And it is hard work. After the Shea Nuts (Seeds) are crushed, roasted and then ground to release the oils… [read more]
How Hand-Crafted Shea Butter is Made
Making Shea Butter – from fruit to butter Watch, listen and learn how Baraka Shea Butter is made. This video takes you through the entire process, starting in the wild shea forest and finishing with beautiful, hand-crafted shea butter. Learn about the steps in the process and all the hard work that goes into making shea butter. #KnowAboutShea – a… [read more]
Second Grind: Releasing the Oils
Second Grind: Releasing the OilsAfter the shea nuts are crushed and roasted they are carried back to the grinder where magic happens. One of the most amazing, mind-blowing parts of how shea butter is made. Dry, mealy material goes into a grinder and comes out as an oily, viscous substance, nearly ready to release the magic of shea butter. Crushing… [read more]
Asungtaaba Basket Group Sharing Fund
Women self-organize into work and support groups at the community level throughout northern Ghana and, indeed, in many other areas of the world. These groups fulfill important social, economic and community functions and have evolved a way or working, organizing and collaborating over generations. Unfortunately, they are too often ‘improved’ by well-meaning outsiders and formal structures and procedures put in… [read more]
Steps in making Baraka Bolga Baskets
Traditional, handwoven Baraka Bolga Baskets are made with skills and techniques passed down through generations. Mothers and Aunts teach daughters and then they weave and work together. In this video, Ahmed, the local coordinator, describes some of the steps as the women are weaving. They are working as they normally do, in a group under a shade tree in the… [read more]
Alamgubbe Group Weaving Baskets
Hand weaving Baraka Bolga Baskets is hard, meticulous and demanding work. The women gather together, often under a tree for shade from the searing heat on the edge of the Sahara
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Coconut plantations, inter-cropping and food security
An interview with the founder of Baraka’s partner, Ava Virgin Coconut Oil discussing intercropping and its contribution to sustainability and food security
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Baraka Shea Butter Producers
Meet the women who make Baraka Shea Butter. Baraka Shea Butter is well-known for its quality. The credit for the quality goes to the hard-working women who make it. On this video you can see about 150 of them.
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From the Shea Forest: Alfred Akolgo Interview
Live from the Shea Forest interview with Alfred Akolgo, Baraka’s Country Manager. He discusses his work with Baraka, the communities and women Baraka works with and some of his personal and career life.
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Tabiasi Women’s Enterprise Centre
A live walkthrough of the Tabiasu Women’s Enterprise Centre with Alfred Akolgo, Baraka’s Country Manager. You can see the women using the facility for the preparation of Shea Nuts (seeds) as we discuss the centre, why we built it, how it will be used and the impact it is already having.
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From the Shea Forest: Picking Shea nuts (seeds)
Shot live in the Shea Forest you can see how the women gather the fallen shea fruit and nuts, the first step in making Baraka Shea Butter. See the women in action, watch the young boys climbing shea trees and shaking the fruit off so the women can pick it.
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From the Shea Forest – Lilian Mwintoma Interview
Live from the Shea Forest interview with Lilian Mwintoma, Baraka’s Quality Office and Women’s Development Liaison. Lilian discusses her work with Baraka, the communities and women Baraka works with and some of her personal and career life.
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Shea Nut Roasters: Safer, Healthier, Easier
Making handmade shea butter is a lot of work. Using shea nut roasters helps make it a bit easier, and a lot safer and healthier. And does a better job.
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Baraka TV: Interview with Amina and Lillian
“Aunty” Amina Yussif has worked with Baraka for over a decade, training and supporting women in communities throughout Ghana’s Upper West Region. A year ago she was joined by Mwintoma Lilian and together they are key members of Baraka’s Ghana team.
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Baraka TV: Alfred Interview
Alfred Akolgo has led Baraka’s Ghana operations since about 2015, working with “Aunty” Amina and recently Mwintoma Lilian as they worked with hard-working women in Ghana’s Upper West Region to produce, package and export Baraka Shea Butter.
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Baraka TV: Zenabo Interview
Zenabo Imoro is one of the leaders of the Kperisi Shea Butter group. In this clip she discusses the care that goes into making Baraka Shea Butter, the long-standing relationship between the hard-working women of northern Ghana
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From Our Hands: The Baraka Shea Butter Song and Dance
The joy of hand-crafting @Baraka Shea Butter is celebrated in this video as the hard-working women who make it have just created a new song and dance to celebrate their joy. The joy and their celebration are the direct
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The Story of Baraka Shea Butter
A short animation to help you understand where Baraka Shea Butter comes from. From the shea trees in the northern Savannah to the pure, unrefined, hand-crafted shea butter made by the hard working women of
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