Water is Life: How Bunge is Supporting Shea Communities Through Water Conservation

At Bunge, we understand that water is more than just a resource; it's a lifeline.  It’s not only essential for producing high-quality shea nuts, but it also underpins the livelihoods of the communities who dedicate themselves to this important crop.  For many of these communities, accessing clean and reliable water is a daily challenge, often requiring long journeys to distant reservoirs and, in some cases, sources are simply non-existent due to drought.

Partnering to Create Innovative Solutions 

Bunge's Where Life Grows (WLG) program is committed to finding innovative solutions to improve the lives of shea crop farmers, including working with them to address water scarcity issues.  From September through November 2024, Bunge partnered with the Dutch Foundation “Stichting Ghana over de IJssel” to teach men in Northern Ghana how to construct rainwater storage cisterns.  The key to a storage cistern's success lies both in its simple design and local construction, using readily available local materials like cement, steel wire, chicken wire and a tap.  This ensures that local masons can both build and maintain the storage cisterns, promising a lifespan of decades with proper upkeep.  

These water storage cisterns offer a low-cost and sturdy way to harvest and store rainwater during the wet season.  Since the water is stored in a dark, cool environment within the cistern, it can be kept for extended periods which can then be used during the dry months. 

After one week of training, six men learned how to build rainwater storage cisterns from start to finish. 

Since the training, over a dozen cisterns have been built, providing enough water to support more than 120 people.  

Supporting Water Access, Sanitation, and Health

In addition to water storage cistern construction, Bunge is supportive of WASH (Water Access, Sanitation, and Health) projects.  In 2024, these projects resulted in the installation of several water boreholes and the initiation of additional boreholes in Burkina Faso. 

 A borehole is a narrow, deep hole drilled into the ground to access underground water sources.  

One recent success is the installation of a borehole and an accompanying pump in the Ouagadougou region of Burkina Faso.  This installation provides the village with water for drinking, cooking, cleaning and feeding animals.  Local shea-collecting women also received training in water management, hygiene and sanitation.  This single borehole, part of a larger collaboration with World Vision International and local contractors, provides four communities with clean, accessible water.  To date, around 15,000 people have benefited from the installation of various boreholes in Burkina Faso.

These are just some of the ways that Bunge is working to ensure that water, the lifeblood of shea communities, is more readily available.  Through investing in innovative solutions, empowering members of local communities, and collaborating with trusted experts, we are supporting a more sustainable and equitable future for all.

Read more about our Where Life Grows program here: Where Life Grows.