Shea Roaster Project - Supporting Climate, Women's Enterprise, and Health

Burn Design Lab has partnered with evanhealy and Baraka Impact to pilot the new and improved shea nut roaster that will deliver environmental impact, worker health and safety, and rural livelihood impact to the shea butter sector.

The roasters, which were designed by Burn Design Lab and built in Ghana by local manufacturers, will be piloted at Baraka’s production facility in northern Ghana.

Initial testing indicated they will create a:

90% reduction in wood fuel use when using shea cake residue as the primary source of fuel

70% reduction in harmful air pollutants/smoke for the user

a circular economy impact by utilizing waste from the shea butter production process for fuel, and

provide other health, safety, and supply chain economic impact

Baraka has previously partnered with evanhealy on improved shea nut roasters and this initiative with Burn Design Lab represents another significant step forward. All three partners have long-standing commitments to environmental stewardship, livelihoods for rural women, and worker health and safety, all of which are addressed through this project.

Learn more about their roasters in this video and hear what the women producers have to say here.

Wayne Dunn, CEO and co-founder of Baraka said “Baraka is excited to be partnering with evanhealy and Burn Design Lab on this initiative that has the potential to further our collective efforts to support the rural women and communities who make our butters and oils and help reduce our carbon footprint and environmental impact at the same time”

David Gordon, CEO and co-founder of evanhealy commented “Everything we’ve ever done with Baraka has had a measurable impact on the financial, emotional, and physical health of the rural communities we work with. This is one more step in building better.”

Jeremy Su, the lead engineer on the shea roaster project at Burn Design Lab, said, “We are very happy to partner with Baraka and evanhealy to bring our improved roaster technology to women producers of hand-crafted shea butter. We look forward to seeing the health, environmental, and economic benefits it leads to and we are thankful for their commitment to improving the lives of rural women and their communities.”

For more information:

Baraka Impact logo

Baraka Impact

Wayne Dunn, CEO

wayne@barakasheabutter.com

+1-250-701-6088 (tel/text/WhatsApp)

+233-54-110-7974

evanhealy logoevanhealy

David Gordon, CEO

david.gordon@evanhealy.com

1-858-472-1813

Burn Design Lab

Jeremy Su, Engineer

Improved Shea Roaster Project

jeremy.su@burndesignlab.org