OTUKE, October 24 2026 — Okere Shea Cooperative Society Limited in Otuke District has exported 23 metric tonnes of premium Nilotica shea butter to the United States of America [USA], marking a significant increase in its international sales.
The cooperative recently flagged off a 40-foot container carrying the consignment, which is destined for Forested and Bansk Beauty, two international partners supporting the growing market for Uganda’s distinctive Nilotica shea butter.
The shipment is the cooperative’s second major export to the USA, following a nine-metric-tonne-consignment in 2025. The latest shipment represents an increase of about 156 percent in export volume within one year.
Ojok Okello, the cooperative’s chief executive officer, attributed the achievement to the efforts of about 1,000 rural women from Agago and Otuke districts who collect and supply shea nuts to the cooperative.
He said the women supplied approximately 50 metric tonnes of shea nuts, which were processed into 23 metric tonnes of premium-quality Nilotica shea butter at the cooperative’s processing facility managed by Okere City, a community-driven social enterprise and grassroots development project in Okere parish, Adwari Subcounty.
“For these women, shea is more than a tree or a seasonal source of income. It represents an opportunity to educate their children, provide food for their families, improve household livelihoods, and participate meaningfully in an increasingly valuable international industry,” Okello said.
He said the cooperative’s journey began in 2019 with the ambition of demonstrating that rural communities could become centres of innovation, production and economic prosperity rather than remain dependent on charity and external assistance.
“Through years of hard work, investment in processing equipment, farmer mobilisation, capacity building, quality assurance and the development of international market relationships, that vision is gradually becoming a reality,” he added.
Okello said the cooperative had faced significant challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, limited access to affordable financing, high production and transportation costs, unreliable electricity and stringent quality standards required by international markets.
“Yet the cooperative has continued to move forward, driven by a firm conviction that rural women, when organised and supported, can produce world-class products capable of competing anywhere in the world,” he said.
He described the latest consignment as more than a shipment of shea butter from Northern Uganda to the USA, saying it represented the hard work, sacrifices, hopes and determination of the 1,000 rural women involved in the value chain.
“Every kilogramme represents a woman who woke up early to collect shea nuts, a family working towards a better future, and a community refusing to be defined by poverty,” Okello said.
Northern Uganda is home to the prized Nilotica shea tree, whose butter is increasingly valued in international cosmetics and skincare markets because of its distinctive properties.
However, much of the economic potential of the natural resource has remained underdeveloped for generations, with rural women often earning relatively little from collecting and selling raw shea nuts.
Okere Shea Cooperative Society is seeking to change this by linking rural women to organised markets while investing in local processing and value addition.
Okello said that instead of exporting unprocessed shea nuts, the cooperative processes them into premium shea butter, creating employment, retaining more economic value within Northern Uganda and strengthening the region’s participation in global value chains.
He said the growing export business also demonstrated how environmental conservation could go hand in hand with economic development.
By creating commercial value for shea products, the cooperative is giving communities stronger economic incentives to protect existing shea trees, plant new seedlings and sustainably manage Northern Uganda’s shea landscape, he added.
https://thecooperator.news/otuke-farmers-advised-to-use-quality-seeds-for-better-yields/
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