Analytical support to aid developing countries in setting up a sustainable supply chain for Shea butter

Shea butter comes from a nut and is a wild harvest crop that grows in the West African Savannah. The Shea supply chain is verified sustainable and creates a positive impact on the development and livelihoods in the shea supply chain. An important use of Shea butter and the derived fractions are used in numerous applications in the food chain. It is very important to share knowledge, create awareness and a good analytical strategy to support the supply chain in quality and food safety. The availability of material, resources and expertise are not always sufficiently available. By sharing knowledge for improvement in the chain and using analytical alternatives such as FTNIR instead of traditional analyses as this is fast, relatively easy to perform without large mutual variations and able to analyse close to the source. A technique such as FTNIR does not use chemicals and is an analytical strategy that fits in a sustainable set-up.