24 Dec 2011

MALI / SHEA BUTTER

Recently, Mali has taken steps to turn more of its natural wealth into wealth that can benefit the people of the country. The west African state is blessed with millions of Shea trees that grow wild throughout the country. Once processed the fruit from these trees can be used to make soaps and other cosmetic products that are popular in lucrative foreign markets. UNIDO

Posted at: December 24, 2011 12:01 am

Duration: 08:13

Available in: SD

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Full script

MALI / SHEA BUTTER
TRT: 8.13
SOURCE: UNIDO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: BAMBARA / FRENCH / ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: RECENT 2011, KIMENI, MALI

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, orchard of Shea trees
2. Wide shot, two women picking Shea tree fruit from the ground
3. Med shot, two women picking Shea tree fruit from the ground
4. Med shot, woman picking Shea tree fruit
5. Med shot, two women gathering Shea tree fruit
6. Close up, Basket of Shea tree fruit
7. Wide shot, Shea fruit tree 
8. Close up, Shea tree leaf
9. Close up, Shea tree fruit
10. Close up, Shea tree fruit with children in the background
11. Wide shot, Shea tree fruits
13. Med shot, contractor working on a house
14. Wide shot, people walking in the streets
15. Med shot, two women picking up Shea tree fruit
16. Close up, two women picking up Shea tree fruit
17. Wide shot, two women picking the Shea tree fruit
18. Close up, Plant in foreground with a cart in the background
19. Wide shot, woman carrying a basket of Shea tree fruit over her head
20. Med shot, woman carrying a basket Shea tree fruit over her head
21. SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Mamou Coulibary, Shea fruit picker, Kimani: 
"If we could change anything, it would be the transport. Buying carts would be a great help."
22. Wide shot, three women carrying bowls of Shea tree fruit
23. SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Fatoumata Tangara, shea tree fruit picker, Kimani: "One of our biggest constraints is we have nowhere to store the fruit at home." 
24. Close up, Shea tree branch."
25. Wide shot, "Centre de Transformation et de Commercialisation des Produits Agroalimentaires de Segou. MPFEF – ONUDI."
26. Close up, "Centre de Transformation et de Commercialisation des Produits Agroalimentaires de Segou. MPFEF – ONUDI" sign at the entrance
27. Med shot, woman pumping water
28. Close up, water tab
29. Close up, Woman's face
30. Med shot, woman pouring water into a bucket
31. Med shot, woman carrying the water bucket
32. Med shot, four women decanting water into a bowl
33. Close up, water being decanted
34. Close up, Woman's face
35. SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Néné Traoré, "Sibulon Ba' Cooperative worker: 
"The two problems we are confronted with here are the water situation and the fact we have to mix everything by hand."
36. Close up, Shea butter being prepared
37. Close up, woman's face 
38. SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Néné Traoré, "Sibulon Ba' Cooperative worker: 
"If we had the right equipment, and the water was neared then we would save time, raise productivity and increase production."
39. Med shot, women inside a house preparing shea butter
40. Close up, women mixing shea butter
41. Med shot, woman pushing a cart with fruit baskets inside
42. Close up, Malian flag
43. Close up, ONUDI logo
44. Wide shot, Si Yiriwa Production Centre
45. Close up, women mixing shea tree fruit
46. Med shot, women cooking the shea butter
47. Med shot, boy working on the mill machine
48. Close up, Grinded Shea tree fruit pouring from the machine into a bowl
49. Med shot, two women preparing Shea butter
50. Med shot, two women mixing Shea butter mixture in two bowls
51. Close up, Shea butter being mixed in the bowl
52. Close up, Shea butter mixture
53. Close up, worker woman
54. Close up, worker woman
55. Close up, two women mixing shea butter with a wood spoon
56. Med shot, women cutting prepared Shea butter soap
57. Med shot, Shea butter soap being cut
58. Pan right, Shea butter soap containers
59. Med shot, Shea butter soap
60. Close up, Two Kaloje jars
61. Med shot, two women labelling Kaloje jars
62. SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Diarra Dihara Demble, Si Yiriwa Production Centre President, Dioila: 
"The soap has changed greatly. Before we didn't know what was in it. Now we make soap that is purely vegetable and we know that it is good for our health so we know what is going into it."
63. Med shot, Shea butter soap
64. Close up, Shea butter soap
65. SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Coulibaly Mamou Togola, Si Yiriwa Production Centre worker: 
"Since taking this job my life has changed. When I wasn't earning, my life depended on others. Now I earn my living I can organise and I am in control of my life."
66. Pan left, man driving a cart carried by two donkeys moving towards a school front gate with children in front of it
67. Med shot, little girl inside the classroom studying by reading the chalkboard
68. Close up, chalk board
69. Med shot, children inside the classroom
70. Wide shot, teacher giving a lesson to a class 
71. Med shot, young kids in the classroom sitting on their tables listening to the teacher
72. Close up, young girl in the classroom
73. Med shot, teacher writing on the chalkboard
74. Close up, young girl in the classroom
75. Med shot, Abdoulaye Tounkara, Dioila School Headmaster working on a desk outside the school
76. SOUNDBITE (French) Abdoulaye Tounkara, Dioila School Headmaster: 
"They no longer take their children out of school for domestic work. The family income has increased. They use all sorts of means so that they have enough money to live. Girls used to be withdrawn from school to produce the mill by hand. Now, with the mill machines, girls are no longer made to do it. They can study normally in class. In fact, they're the best performers. "
77. Cutaway, classroom with teacher and kids shot
78. Close up, Girl close
79. Med shot, young women in the classroom
80. Wide shot, sign of Republique du Mali in close up and highway in the background
81. Wide shot, "Ministere de la Promotion de la Femme, de l'Enfant et de la Famille"
82. Wide shot, highway
83. Med shot, men riding scooters
84.e Med shot, ntrance road to Bamako
85. Med shot, traffic road
86. Med shot, Globe with a dove statue
87. Med shot, people washing clothes in the river
88. SOUNDBITE (French) Dr. Konaré Mariam Kalapo, Minister for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family: 
"Women work with shea in all forms, from the north to the south and from the east to the west. Nowadays there's a question of quality with shea that we are trying to improve that with the new techniques. "
89. Med shot, Konte Binta Bocum writing in a notebook
90. Close up, Konte Binta Bocum
91 SOUNDBITE (French) Konte Binta Bocum, Shea Project ("Project Karité") Coordinator: 
"The women what do they want? They want to make more money from this business. It's the only business they have known for many years… for centuries. It brings them money and with this money they send their children to school, they look and educate them, and they look after the family. So they want to make money from this business. And to make money, you have to produce quality, you have to be well organised and you have to know the market. "
92. Close up, Project Karité sign
93. Med shot, Shelf with products derivated from shea tree fruit
94. Close up, Kaloje jar
95. Close up, Kaloje soap
96. Close up, Kajoje soap (labelled)
97. Med shot, Karite Kiosk with a woman
98. Close up, Kaloje soap
99. Close up, Bag with Avon cosmetics
100. Close up, Old woman
101. Med shot, two women working the shea butter soap
102. Close up, Avon bags
103. Med shot, men loading bags of soap into a van
104. Wide shot, men loading the bags of soap into a van 
105. Med shot, man closing the backdoors of a van
106. Wide shot, van driving away
107. Med shot, people walking on the side of the road
108. Wide shot, Bamako's marina
109. Med shot, women bagging Karite into Avon bags
110. Med shot, woman pilling the Avon bags
111. Med shot, soap factory Savonnerie du Midi
112. Wide shot, wall with a window 
113. Close up, picture frame
114. Med shot, woman grating the soap  
115. Med shot, factory machine mixing the soap
116. Med shot, one stage of the chain of soap production
117. Med shot, soap being processed
118. Close up, soap being processed
119. SOUNDBITE (English) Gilbert Latour, Savonnerie du Midi CEO: 
"Today in this part of Mali the use of shea butter for their domestic consumption and the other part is exported as raw material to Europe and the U.S. And all the added value is made in Europe and the U.S., Canada, Japan." 
120.Shea butter soap on the assembly production line
121. Med shot, Shea butter soap on the assembly production line
122. Close up, Shea butter soap being stamped
123. Med shot, Shea butter soap being packed
124. Med shot, final stage of she butter production in the factory
125. Close up, "Savon de Marseille" soap
126. SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Diarra Dihara Demble, Si Yiriwa Production Centre President, Dioila: 
"This work has helped us become more independent. We've received training and increased our knowledge and become much more business-minded. We buy the shea and transform it here and sell it for a greater profit. It's completely changed our way of doing things. We have become entrepreneurs."
127. Med shot, Diarra Dihara Demble dancing
128. Wide shot, group of women dancing
129. Med shot, women dancing
130. Med shot, women dancing
131. Med shot, entrance o the "Centre de Production de Transformation et de commercialisation des Produits de Karité"

STORYLINE:

Mamou Coulibaly and Fatumata Tangara know all about the benefits of the shea tree.

Like thousands of women in Mali they've been gathering its fruit for years in order to produce soaps and other products that they can sell.

The Shea tree grows wild throughout this vast country but, here in Kimeni, it remains a source of natural wealth that is yet to reach its full potential.

Production in Mali hovers at 80,000 tons per year – but it's reckoned there's potential for it to reach 250,000 tons and improve the lives of many rural families.

Women like these face many challenges – the first being how to transport the fruit to a place where it can be stored and processed.

Mamou is fortunate because she can borrow her husband's cart, but others aren't so lucky. During harvest they may walk several kilometres to the nearest village with up to 50 kilos of fruit on their head.

SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Mamou Coulibary, Shea fruit picker, Kimani: 
"If we could change anything, it would be the transport. Buying carts would be a great help."

SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Fatoumata Tangara, Shea tree fruit picker, Kimani: 
"One of our biggest constraints is we have nowhere to store the fruit at home."

The challenges don't stop once the fruit from the Shea tree has reached a processing centre.

Néné Traoré works in Segou in southern Mali at the "Sibulon Ba" co-operative.

This centre uses 800 litres of water per day. It all has to be pumped from the ground, 10 litres at a time, and carried to where the women work. It's an energy sapping process and often leaves women too tired for the remaining labour intensive tasks.

SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Néné Traoré, "Sibulon Ba' Cooperative worker: 
"The two problems we are confronted with here are the water situation and the fact we have to mix everything by hand."

SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Néné Traoré, "Sibulon Ba' Cooperative worker: 
"If we had the right equipment, and the water was neared then we would save time, raise productivity and increase production."

A new project is seeking to help women become more productive and their businesses become more profitable.

It's run by the governments of Mali and Luxembourg in conjunction with UNIDO, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

At this centre on the outskirts of Dioila, workers have since February 2011 benefited from new machinery, training, and improved production methods.

Today, the centre employs 20 women who process the Shea fruit gathered by more than 2500 women spread across 32 villages in the area.

A year ago, the centre could only produce 100 kilos of soap per day – now it can produce 600.

And the emphasis is on quality as well as quantity: a better product means a better life for the workers.

SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Diarra Dihara Demble, Si Yiriwa Production Centre President, Dioila: 
"The soap has changed greatly. Before we didn't know what was in it. Now we make soap that is purely vegetable, and we know that it is good for our health so we know what is going into it."

SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Coulibaly Mamou Togola, Si Yiriwa Production Centre worker: 
"Since taking this job my life has changed. When I wasn't earning, my life depended on others. Now I earn my living I can organise and I am in control of my life."

Higher productivity means higher wages for the workers, allowing the women to spend more money where it matters.

At this local school in Dioila the classes are full. More children are able to attend class if their parents possess the funds to pay the fees and don't need to call on the young to work and make ends meet.

SOUNDBITE (French) Abdoulaye Tounkara, Dioila School Headmaster: 
"They no longer take their children out of school for domestic work. The family income has increased. They use all sorts of means so that they have enough money to live. Girls used to be withdrawn from school to produce the mill by hand. Now, with the mill machines, girls are no longer made to do it. They can study normally in class. In fact, they're the best performers."

The project is run in conjunction with Mali's Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family.

There is plenty of evidence of development in Bamako, the capital of Mali. The support given to the women outside the capital is part of a government policy to combat poverty in rural areas of the country.

SOUNDBITE (French) Dr. Konaré Mariam Kalapo, Minister for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family: "Women work with Shea in all forms, from the north to the south and from the east to the west. Nowadays there's a question of quality with Shea that we are trying to improve that with the new techniques. "

SOUNDBITE (French) Konte Binta Bocum, Shea Project ("Project Karité") Coordinator: 
"The women what do they want? They want to make more money from this business. It's the only business they have known for many years for centuries. It brings them money and with this money they send their children to school, they look and educate them, and they look after the family. So they want to make money from this business. And to make money, you have to produce quality, you have to be well organised and you have to know the market. "

The co-operative based in Dioila produces goods that are sold at this shop in Bamako. And it's not just domestic consumers the project is targeting: it's set its sights much higher.

This shipment of 20 tons of soap is the first delivery to be produced for a new client in France.

Soaps that sell for just 50 euro cents in Bamako sell for up to ten times that in the wealthy West. The hope is that the more value the women of Mali can add to their product before they sell it, the greater the price they can sell it for and the more profit they can retain.

This factory in Marseilles is owned by the project's French partner, the Savonnerie du Midi. Together it has formed a joint venture with the Dioila based co-operative.

Rather than buy the raw material, it's opted to buy a product from Mali that has undergone some of the processing already.

SOUNDBITE with cutaways (English), Gilbert Latour, Savonnerie du Midi CEO: "Today in this part of Mali the use of Shea butter for their domestic consumption and the other part is exported as raw material to Europe and the U.S. And all the added value is made in Europe and the U.S., Canada, Japan."

SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Diarra Dihara Demble, Si Yiriwa Production Centre President, Dioila: 
"This work has helped us become more independent. We've received training and increased our knowledge and become much more business-minded. We buy the Shea and transform it here and sell it for a greater profit. It's completely changed our way of doing things. We have become entrepreneurs."

The first delivery to France was cause for much celebration back in Dioila.

If the improvements here can be replicated across the country, hopefully many other women in Mali will also have something to celebrate in the future.