Shea nut tree: Uncovering secrets of precious, endangered species

Ms Mariam Chandiru from Midigo Town Council says Midigo was thickly covered by the shea nut trees, but are now scattered because of the invasion of the area by charcoal dealers.

‘’We depended on the shea nut oil which is better than the industrial oil sold on the market. But because the trees are being destroyed, it is rare to get the locally processed butter nowadays,” she says.

Ms Chandiru, who relives memories of the good old days, says: “By the time the trees were plenty, we would go around homesteads to collect the shea nut seeds to make oil out of it and the fruits can also be eaten but this time, we trek for miles to harvest them.”

These days, the locals trek up to the Uganda-South Sudan border, nearly five kilometres away, to look for the shea nut seeds. This is a very risky adventure given the security concerns at the border.

To beat the deforestation and save the shea nut trees, environmentalists are now promoting nursery seed plantations in the area.

Mr Noah Acikule, an elder from Kei Sub-county, says: “We need these trees to be protected from the saws of charcoal dealers. Had they known the importance of the shea nut tree, they would not even touch it. People who are found cutting down the shea nut trees shouldn’t be spared.”

The shea nut tree is preferred for charcoal because it is hard and burns slowly. But this is done at the expense of the cherished tree that is a treasure to the community.

The wonder tree

Shea nuts also contain calcium, glucose, fructose and sucrose. The shea butter serves as a moisturiser and is naturally rich in vitamins A, E and F in addition to some other vitamins. It can soothe, balance and hydrate the skin.

Mr Acikule says rescuing the shea nut tree demands encouraging conservation of the environment and replanting of the shea nut tree. Currently, a shea nut conservation company in Midigo Town Council has raised more than 50,000 seedlings for the plantation.

Mr Mustafa Gerima, a shea nut activist, who walked hundreds of kilometres from Kampala to Arua and back to Kampala and onto Nairobi, says the rate at which the shea nut tree is being depleted in Yumbe is high and that if no urgent steps are taken, they might lose the precious tree altogether in the area.

  “In the West Nile Sub-region, Madi-Okollo District used to be the home of shea nut trees but the area has been cleared of the precious trees,” he said.

Ignored Executive order

“The President issued an executive order banning commercial charcoal burning which was to be implemented by all classes of people, but on the ground, we are not seeing this being enforced,’’ he says.

Mr Gerima says there is need for the communities, religious and cultural leaders and other institutions to become guardians of the shea nut trees and conserve the environment.

Mr Imran Ijotre, an environmental scientist, says the absence of tree species like the Afzelia Africana, mahogany, and shea nut that used to modify the climate, have negatively impacted the local weather.

“The weather pattern has changed and we no longer know when to plant crops. This goes back to the way we indiscriminately abuse the environment by cutting down the trees for our quick gains and this has contributed to low crop yields,’’ he says.

Mr Khemis Ambaga, the district forestry officer, says the Forest Department has taken steps to earmark some of the areas with the shea nut trees for conservation.

Mr Ambaga says they received the Executive Order banning the sale of charcoal in May last year but it has not been enforced.

“The Executive order came without clear guidelines from the technical team and it has made the implementation ineffective. No budget has been allocated to implement the order. It is not true that we are conniving with the charcoal dealers but the communities do not give us information on time,’’ he says.

The shea nut is preferred for home consumption and stays longer in storage than other industrial butter products.

The nuts are cracked to remove the outer cover, leaving the endocarp or kernel, which is roasted and ground into a paste from which shea butter oil or butter is extracted.  

Given its medicinal, cosmetic and nutritional values, shea butter remains in high demand internationally and is exported to earn foreign income for rural women.

Amazing life span

Once the shea tree has survived the first three to five years after germination, it becomes fire-resistant. It then grows gradually and takes about 30 years to reach maturity and can then live for up to 300 years.

The shea tree usually grows to an average height of about 15 metres with profuse branches and a thick waxy and deeply fissured bark that makes it fire-resistant.

Shea nut trees can bear fruit for 200 years.

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