ILO interventions lead to improvements in the performance of enterprises in the shea sector in Ghana

TAMALE, GHANA (ILO News) – To address underperformance and improve productivity and working conditions at enterprises, the ILO’s Productivity Ecosystems for Decent Work Project is offering need-based interventions to the shea industry in the northern part of Ghana. Among other things, a national consultant has been recruited to provide advisory services to enterprises. The consultant provided technical advice to Gratis on the design of machines for the shea industry which allowed a set of improved shea processing machines to be produced for 10 enterprises. 

The project has trained 32 enterprises in the SCORE Training methodology to build capacity to improve productivity, working conditions and compliance to international standards. 
At the meso and macro levels of the ecosystem, the project is working with the Tree Crop Development Authority to develop a pricing mechanism for shea; and with the Trade Union Congress to organise workers in the sector into unions. 

On 30th April 2024, a delegation from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), embarked on a mission to beneficiary enterprises in Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana with the Country Office Abuja. The purpose of the mission was to assess the progress of project implementation and initial impacts on beneficiaries. Prominent in the delegation were the Deputy Ambassador of Switzerland to Ghana, Dr. Simone Haeberli and the ILO Country Director, Abuja, Dr. Vanessa Phala. During the mission, the delegation attentively listened to success stories by beneficiaries of the programme and went on four factory tours, to see operational changes in the enterprises.                                                                                             
Beneficiaries such as enterprise owners and workers made presentations and shared success stories of project interventions. According to Ms. Esther Naabir, the CEO of Agape enterprise, the enterprise was assisted to develop policies (HR, Quality, OSH) and coached to prepare Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to guide certain stages of their operations. 

The initial benefits of these interventions include reductions in defects, as well as reduced electricity, water consumption.  On average they see increase in total operating efficiency from 72 percent at baseline to 83 percent at the endline of the training.  In another testimony, the CEO of Tiyumtaba enterprise, Hajia Naab Mary stated ‘’the project has ‘opened our eyes’ about good industry practices and has impacted positively on our operations. We are now able to undertake specific improvement activities to enhance the performance of our business.’’ 

The delegation commended the collaborative effort of the project staff and enterprises towards the implementation of activities and achievement of results. In her remarks, Dr Vanessa Phala said that it was necessary to come on such missions to appreciate the scope of interventions and progress of work by the various projects. This would inform the support needed to facilitate the work of the project teams. She added that, such missions were also necessary to assess how efficiently project resources were being used. She emphasised the relevance of decent work at the core of ILO’s work, collaborating with the Ghana Employers Association and the Trade Union Congress in project implementation. 

Dr. Simone Haeberli mentioned previous visits by other delegations from SECO to Tamale and the success stories that were reported. Consequently, she had also come to witness the results at the enterprise level. She commended the ILO on the good work being done and indicated that, SECO could not have achieved these results by itself but needed collaborations with partners like the ILO. Prior to their remarks, the Project Manager of the Productivity Ecosystems for Decent Work, Mr. David Marcos made a presentation on the various interventions that were being delivered by the ILO to the enterprises in the Region. 

The Productivity Ecosystems for Decent Work project is being implemented with the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).