Wuntira Agribusiness Ventures (WAV)
WAV buys farm commodities from peri-urban and rural women farmers in Ghana and resells them to domestic and international buyers. We are also involved in the development of the shea nut value chain, most notably through the production of shea butter.
Buying commodities
Typical crops we buy include soybeans, maize, groundnuts, millet, and cowpeas as well as shea nuts collected from farms and parklands. Our primary suppliers are the cooperatives Wuntira Foundation established, but we also purchase commodities from other farmers.
Our values are part of our business. Unlike traditional middlemen, who often pay the lowest prices possible and whose prices fluctuate, WAV pays a consistent, fair price for the commodities it buys. Farmers are flocking to WAV because of WAVs’ standard price offer. Women smallholder farmers, as well as shea collectors, are interested in selling to WAV, not the middlemen. For the past three years, we have increased our commodity purchases from rural smallholder farmers from 19% to 41%, which speaks to our integrity, trust, transparency, and empathy for the rural smallholder farmers, predominantly women and youth.
In addition, as a social enterprise, the Wuntira Agri Foundation enhances the capacities of rural smallholder farmers, enabling them to grow higher-quality crops and command better prices. As the Wuntira Agri Foundation reaches more smallholders and supports the formation and development of additional cooperatives, WAV thus expands its purchasing power.
We are proud to support and promote a sustainable and agroecological economy in Northern Ghana.
We are a project implementation partner of the Global Shea Alliance, USAID, Feed the Future, AgUnity, and other non-governmental and private organizations.
Selling commodities
WAV resells the commodities to national and international buyers in cosmetics, confectionery, chicken farming, and other industries.
In the past five years, WAV has procured and traded about 1,000 tons of commodities, including shea kernels, soybeans, maize, and sorghum. In addition, over the past two years, WAV has traded over 659 kg of unrefined shea butter with local and international buyers. As we advance, WAV expects to increase its sales of both staple crops and shea butter commodities by about 75% in the next five years.
Shea butter production
WAV has contracted with local women to produce shea butter for commercial sale, providing employment opportunities off-season for women in the region.
Wuntira Shea Butter is a quality, hand-crafted product. The Wuntira Shea brand also produces additional products such as unrefined shea butter, shea bathing soap, shea butter hair and body creams, and pure shea oil.
Butter and other products can be made to order in quantities ranging from several bags to large orders of 200kg.
