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Economic Sustainability

Fair Trade shea butter provides fair prices for
indigenous resources and economic security.

Fair trade shea butter enables communities to
be self sustaining.

Today, many social scientists agree that the contemporary western economic model is not sustainable, as it involves greed, waste, depletion and abuse of limited resources. We believe that African economies, which are now overrun with corruption and inefficiency, need to follow a different path if they are to become sustainable and independent of foreign aid.

Using Fair Trade Principles to Build Economies

Alaffia’s philosophy is based on the belief that Fair Trade, where morality is practiced instead of individual gain, is the key to Africa becoming economically independent. Paying fair wages, valuing local technologies, respecting local knowledge, using sustainable raw materials and resources are all part of Fair Trade.

Fair trade practices provide sustainable incomes and allow families the luxury of education, proper nutrition and good health, all of which are necessary to build the human capital that will move Africa away from the pervasive poverty it now experiences.

Social Sustainability

Fair trade depends on people of different
ethnicities communicating and working together.

One of our social obligations is to promote the ideas
of fair trade in all our communities.

Over the past 600 years, Africa has had various foreign societal variables imposed on its people and social fabric Ð from foreign languages to religions and educational institutions. Today, as a result, many Africans suffer from identity confusion. Also, divisions created by introduced religions and beliefs prevent African nations from unifying. Alaffia is taking steps to reduce cultural colonialism by accepting all points of view. We also believe it is important to encourage traditional African products and cultural traditions.

Cultivating Social Harmony

At our Shea Butter center, everyone involved is encouraged to dress as they wish, speak their own languages, and practice their traditional beliefs. Our Shea Butter cooperative is made up of women from various ethnic groups, which each have their own languages and religious preferences. We also promote and value indigenous African knowledge in handcrafting Shea Butter, which is deeply embedded in our society as well as other African savanna societies. The women we work with are not required to speak or write French, which is a prerequisite for employment in almost every organization in Togo. These policies help to preserve local languages and cultures.

Environmental Sustainability

Sustainable harvest of wild Shea fruit helps
preserve Togo’s wooded savanna.

Fair trade of shea butter gives economic value
to this indigenous resource and discourages
cutting of shea trees for firewood.

Alaffia shea butter is packaged in glass.

Traditionally handcrafted Shea Butter is one of the most sustainable ingredients in the natural skin care industry. Every step of the handcrafting process in making our Shea Butter Skin Care products contributes to environmental sustainability.

Sustainable Harvest, Sustainable Ecology

Shea trees grow wild in their natural environment and are not grown in massive plantations; therefore they do not need synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Shea fruit for our skin care products are hand gathered; there are no massive harvesting machines burning fossil fuels and compacting the soil. Every part of the harvested shea fruits are used in some way. While the Shea Butter is the marketable product, the shells and the non butter particulates are used as natural fertilizers on fields. To reduce waste, we also use the non-butter particulates as exfoliants in our soaps.

Sustainable Production, Sustainable Economy

All of the oils and butters for our skin care products that we make in Togo are extracted with traditional methods. We also take the care to only use non-plantation grown coconuts, palm fruit and cacao beans. Plantations have multiple environmental, social and economic consequences, while the small farms we support have been sustainable for centuries.

Our efforts to be environmentally sustainable are not limited to our Togo centers and production. In our production facility in Washington, we use composting toilets and pay additional fees for renewable energy. We reuse packaging material and recycle what we cannot reuse. We have also taken an additional cost to purchase glass containers for our Shea Butter and creams to limit our use of plastic. The plastic we do use is recyclable in almost any area. We encourage you to recycle and reuse our containers.

Our Use of Wood

We do use wood fuel in the production of our shea butter. Although this is not the ideal fuel source, wood is not scarce in central Togo, and the wood is harvested sustainably.

In addition, we are currently training our cooperative members in making flammable briquettes from the powder that is left after the shea butter is extracted. The waste water is put in shallow ponds, evaporated and the remaining powder is pounded into the briquettes. We also use the waste water as a soil amendment; the water is distributed onto fields where it adds needed nutrients and organic matter to the soil.

Plastics

We are becoming increasingly concerned with the amount of plastic in our environment and the impact this plastic has on other living creatures and ecosystems. We have gathered a few links where you can get more information about this:

• Plastics: An Environmental Menace
• the Sixth Basic Food Group
• Get Plastic Out of Your Diet
• Against the Current - The Plastic Sea

In “Get Plastic Out of Your Diet”, author Paul Goettlich states; “There is now 6 times more plastic around in the middle of the Pacific Ocean than zooplankton floating, which is a major food source for sea animals”.(This info comes from Marine Pollution Bulletin, Dec 2001 - 3 years ago!) Paul goes on to say, “A large portion of it is preconsumer plastic that has not been made into a product yet. Called nurdels, they’re physically very much like zooplankton. The researcher who found this, Captain Charles Moore, Director of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, said that new data indicates that the ratio of plastic to zooplankton is even higher in two so-called floating plastic “Garbage Patches” that are each bigger than the State of Texas”. “Nurdles are incorporated into all strata of the oceans with no known method of removal. DDE, a metabolite of DDT, and other dioxin-like chemicals concentrate on the surface of the plastic nurdles at a rate up to a million times that found in the ocean. Captain Moore’s presentation includes images of sea animals that have suffocated and starved as a result. Even more startling is seeing plastic bits incorporated into the flesh of the sea animals”.

Fair Trade Shea Butter

Gathering shea fruit is labor intensive, and
is usually not factored into the final price.

Traditional shea extraction is made up of
several critical steps.

Members of the Alaffia/Agbanga Fair Trade
Shea Butter Cooperative, Sokode, Togo.

Fair trade means paying a fair price or wage in the local context, providing equal employment opportunities, engaging in environmental sustainable practices, providing healthy and safe working conditions, being open to public accountability, and reducing the number of middlemen between producers and consumers. Fair trade is environmentally, economically and culturally sustainable and gives local communities the opportunity to self empower.

Unrefined shea butter is a valuable natural resource for West Africa and could be an important tool in empowering local communities. However, most shea butter on the market in the United States and Europe is not fairly traded. The women who gather shea nuts and hand craft this remarkable oil receive only a tiny fraction of the final price.

It is estimated to take 20 to 30 hours of labor to produce one kilogram of handcrafted shea butter, which is traded at $1 or less in today’s market. A woman making shea butter in West Africa will receive only a fraction of this price. Therefore, a person working for 30 hours, almost a week’s worth of work, will not receive even a dollar for her efforts. Even if she received the whole dollar, this does not even begin to reach living wage standards.

Through our direct involvement in the entire process — from gathering the wild shea nuts and crafting the butter, to distribution locally and abroad — our members receive fair and steady incomes. In addition, 10% of sales will go directly back to our community in the form of community enhancement projects, AIDS and malaria outreach, and educational scholarships. We believe in “building African self-empowerment the moral way” and truly appreciate your involvement in reaching our goals.

Alaffia in the Media

UC Davis Magazine

Olowo-n’djo Tchala and Alaffia were featured in the alumni section of the Summer 2007 edition of the “UC Davis Magazine”. Read the full article at our blog.

The Whitman Magazine

Beauty of natural skin-care product reaches far beyond healthy glow
By Lenel Parish

The Alaffia Sustainable Skin Care Company has a history as rich as the pure, unrefined shea butter it sells.
The fledgling multinational company, brainchild of Prairie Rose Hyde ’95 and her husband, Olowo-n’dja Tchala, also provides fair
prices and wages to the farmers and the members of the Agbanga Karite Cooperative in Togo, West Africa.

The Seattle PI

Olympia couple uses their shea-butter business to build a brighter future for Togo
By Cecelia Goodnow

The nuts of the wild shea tree of West Africa produce a rich butter prized for cooking, cosmetics and healing. As a boy in Togo, Olowo-n’djo Tchala spent hours gathering them to pay for clothing and school supplies.

The Star Banner

Spread it on: Shea butter has grown popular as part of skin- and hair-care regimens
by Lashonda Stinson

Shea butter - in recent years, this term has been appearing more and more in the skin care and beauty aisles. Products that are made with it promise to relieve dry skin and make it softer and more radiant.

Colors NW Magazine

Alaffia and Global Trading Network
by Pat Tanumihardja

Pick up a free copy on the streets in Seattle or visit the ColorsNW website to order a copy.

iAfrica.com

Shea butter: Africa’s beauty secret
by Irmin Durand

“For centuries West African women have been using shea butter, or karite, in traditional medicines, to cook meals or to massage newborn babies….”

Treehugger.com

Sustainable Shea Butter by Alaffia
by Justin Thomas

“Alaffia is a company that is focused on producing fairtraded, sustainably grown, unrefined shea butter….”

TheOlympian.com

Nut cream connects Olympia with Togo
by Kari Neumeyer

“Olowo-n’djo Tchala founded the cooperative in 2003 to lift the women of Togo, his native country, out of poverty. Profits help the members directly through fair market salaries and indirectly through development projects….”

MarlenesMarket-Deli.com

Fair Trade: Know where your money’s going
ed. Lori Lively

“Africa has always been a place of abundant natural resources. Today, one of the most important commodities is shea butter, her “liquid gold.” Unfortunately the people in west and central Africa who are ultimately responsible for bringing this valuable oil to the rest of the world are rarely compensated fairly….”

Lori’snatural.com

Meet our newest member of our Fair Trade Family
by Joe Star

“These products are made and marketed by
a group of women in the tiny country of Togo,
which is located in West Africa….”

Internships

Alaffia Fair Trade Shea Butter and Sustainable Skin Care builds community empowerment through the fair trade of indigenous, handcrafted Shea Butter and sustainable skin care products. We are members of the Fair Trade Federation, and we produce all of our products under fair trade and organic guidelines. Our products are:

• Fair Trade
• Handcrafted
• Paraben Free
• Petroleum Free
• Cruelty free

Shea butter is a unique African natural resource. Shea trees grow no where else on Earth but Africa, and African women have been making and trading Shea butte for millennia. Due to colonial circumstances, ex-African colonial powers now control the Shea butter trade and have taken away the market from African women. Alaffia’s moral responsibility is to empower these women by directly bringing their indigenous product to market, returning the funds to Africa, and conducting sustainable local based project that will lead these women and the community out of pervasive poverty.

Alaffia is more than skin care products. We are also the producers of our Shea Butter, specialty oils and extracts. From gathering wild Shea nuts to formulating our lotions and creams we are one organization. This means our cooperative members, women whose families have been producing Shea butter for centuries, are once again benefiting directly directing from the trade of their traditional knowledge and indigenous resources.

Here in Olympia we repackage our Shea Butter and formulate our lotions, soaps and creams using the same principles as our Togo cooperative.

Download and read the entire ad (.pdf)

Scholarships

Alaffia Global Community Scholarship

The Alaffia Global Community Scholarship is designed to assist low income high school seniors in Washington State obtain higher education degrees. Two scholarships of $250 will be awarded each school year. We are currently developing the 2007 scholarship. Deadlines and other information will be announced shortly.

download last year’s application (.pdf)

Olowo-n’djo in Sokode, Togo

Olowo-n’djo, Rose and daughters in Kaboli, Togo

Alaffia/Agbanga Shea Butter Cooperative
Sokode, Togo

Alaffia team - volunteers and employees in
Olympia, WA.

Today, Africa is considered the poorest continent on Earth. Seventy-seven percent of Africans live on less than $2 per day, and women and children make up the majority of this number. African families must also cope with the impacts of diseases such as AIDS and malaria, high unemployment rates, and increasing problems with air and water pollution, including access to potable water. Africans are still experiencing colonial legacies that impede the wellbeing of the people, such as the systematic exclusion of women from the formal education system and lack of access to adequate market information to trade their products fairly. The discrepancy between the extreme poverty and the natural wealth of the African continent has been a constant puzzlement and source of frustration for my wife Rose and I for many years.

Because I grew up in poverty in Togo, I feel morally responsible to dedicate my life to empowering our communities in Africa. I have chosen to promote indigenous African natural resources that are culturally, spiritually, economically and ecologically sustainable. Traditionally handcrafted shea butter fits these criteria. It is a renewable resource of African origin; shea trees are wild, requiring no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Furthermore, it is an integral part of many savanna communities and, consequently, there is a wealth of local and traditional knowledge of making shea butter. The fair trade of our handcrafted shea butter and shea butter skin care products is bringing income to and empowering our communities in Togo, while making indigenous, sustainable and effective skin care available to the global community.

Fairly traded, handcrafted Shea Butter benefits the communities that produce it as well as the communities that purchase it. Members of our Agbanga Karite/Alaffia Shea Butter cooperative gain pride as they are able to use their traditional knowledge and skills to support their families. Our customers benefit because they are receiving an authentic product directly from the source. As part of our Fair Trade philosophy, we use 10% of our sales for community enhancement projects in Togo, West Africa and locally in Washington State.

We also believe that Fair Trade applies to more than African communities and resources. The same care and philosophies are applied when crafting our creams, lotions, and soaps in Olympia, WA. We bring our handcrafted oils to Olympia, where we make our final products by hand in small batches. We combine our handcrafted oils with other high quality ingredients, including pure essential oils and food grade preservatives. We believe customers should have access to body care products made with unrefined, natural ingredients free of harmful chemicals, such as parabens and petroleum derivatives.

Thank you for visiting our site and helping us with our cause. We appreciate your support.

Olowo-n’djo Tchala, Founder

Sustainable Skin Care

To us, sustainable means making choices and actions that improve current and future living conditions for our communities while maintaining the cultural and bio diversities of our planet, including:

1. Using Sustainably Harvested, Wildcrafted, and Traditionally Extracted, Unrefined Shea Butter for the base of our products.
2. Providing fair wages and prices to our Shea Butter Cooperative members and farmers.
3. Dedicating 10% of sales proceeds to Community Enhancement Projects in Africa and other parts of the World.

The motivation to commit to these principles comes from the hope that our actions will:
1. Improve current living standards and promote gender equality and feelings of self worth for individuals in our communities.
2. Help break the cycle of poverty in Africa and preserve indigenous resources and knowledge for future generations
3. Increase awareness of how individual actions and choices affect communities worldwide.

Enter our online store.

Artisans

Alaffia is part of the Alaffia-Agbanga Shea Butter Cooperative, an organization dedicated to building African self-empowerment. While we make our finished products in Olympia, WA, all of our Shea Butter and other tropical oils that we use are made by our cooperative members in Togo, West Africa. We have decided to post short biographies of some of these Shea Butter artisans to give Alaffia customers a picture of the people behind our traditional Shea Butter.

East

Future Green
1469 Church St NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-234-7110

Kinfolk Natural Foods
14 1/2 West University St.
Alfred, NY 14802
(607) 587 - 8840

Beacon Naturals
348 Main Street
Beacon, NY 12508
845-838-1288

Hano Home Products
5642 Delafield Ave.
Bronx, NY 10471
718-601-4714

Perelandra the Natural Foods Super Store
175 Remsen St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-855-6068

Park Natural
350 Court Street
Brooklyn,, NY 11231
(718) 802-1652

Back To The Land
142 7th Avenue
Brooklyn,, NY 11215
718-768-5654

Feel Rite
2141 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14216
(716) 837-7661

Natur-Tyme
5898 Bridge Street
East Syracuse,, NY 13057-2
315-488-6300

Queens Health Emporium
15901 Horace Harding Blvd
Flushing, NY 11365
718-358-6500

Feel Right Fresh Markets
6000 S. Park Ave
Hamburg, NY 14075
716-649-6667

High Food Co-op
1398 State Route 213
High Falls, NY
845-687-7262

Mother’s Earth Storehouse
Rte 9 Colonial Plaza
Hyde Park, NY 12538
845-229-8593

GreenStar Coop
701 W. Buffalo Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
6072759342

Mother Earth Storehouse
440 Kingsmall Court
Kingston, NY 12401
(845)336-5541

Sundance Farm Natural Foods
4200 South Street Road
Marcellus, NY 13108
(315)-673-7001

Peter’s Cornucopia
38 New Hartford Shopping Center
New Hartford, NY 13413
315-724-4998

Commodities East
165 1st Ave
New York, NY 10003
212-260-2600

Inside Out Stop
1791 Amsterdam Ave
New York, NY 10031
646-548-0657

Whole Foods
40 East 14th Street
New York, NY 10003

Whole Foods (Columbus Circle)
10 Columbus Circle Suite SC101
New York, NY 10019
212-823-9600

Whole Foods- Chelsea
260 7th Avenue
New York, NY 10001
212-924-9972

Pharma Care
892 9th Ave
New York, NY 10019
212-445-0933

Back to Earth Natural Foods
1 S Broadway
Nyack, NY 10960
845-353-3311

VNF Nutrition
1029 C. Route 112
Port Jefferson Station,, NY 11776
631-751-1762

Lori’s Natural Foods
1900 Jefferson Rd
Rochester, NY 14623
585-424-2323
Whole Foods (White Plains)
110 Bloomingdale Road
White Plains, NY 10605
914-288-1300

Sunflower Natural Foods Market
75 Mill Hill Road
Woodstock, NY 12498
845-679-5361

Cambridge Naturals
23 White Street Porter Square Shopping Center
Cambridge, MA 2138
617-492-4452

Cape Cod Natural Foods
Bell Tower Mall 1600 Falmouth Rd, Ste 27
Centerville, MA

Roots Natural Foods
100 Crawford St
Leominster, MA 1453
978-534-7668

Annye’s Whole Foods
14 Amelia Dr
Nantucket, MA 2554
508-228-4554

Willimantic Co-op
91 Valley Street
Willimantic, CT 6226
860-456-3611

Essene Market & Cafe
719 S 4th St
Philadelphia,, PA 19147
(212) 922-1146

Talus
1288 Green Spring Dr
York, PA 17402
717-840-9889

Future Green
1469 Church St NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-234-7110

Whole Foods (Ridgewood)
44 Goodwin Ave
Ridgewood, NJ

Kinfolk Natural Foods
14 1/2 West University St.
Alfred, NY 14802
(607) 587 - 8840

Beacon Naturals
348 Main Street
Beacon, NY 12508
845-838-1288

Hano Home Products
5642 Delafield Ave.
Bronx, NY 10471
718-601-4714

Perelandra the Natural Foods Super Store
175 Remsen St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-855-6068

Park Natural
350 Court Street
Brooklyn,, NY 11231
(718) 802-1652

Back To The Land
142 7th Avenue
Brooklyn,, NY 11215
718-768-5654

Feel Rite
2141 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14216
(716) 837-7661

Natur-Tyme
5898 Bridge Street
East Syracuse,, NY 13057-2
315-488-6300

Queens Health Emporium
15901 Horace Harding Blvd
Flushing, NY 11365
718-358-6500

Feel Right Fresh Markets
6000 S. Park Ave
Hamburg, NY 14075
716-649-6667

High Food Co-op
1398 State Route 213
High Falls, NY
845-687-7262

Mother’s Earth Storehouse
Rte 9 Colonial Plaza
Hyde Park, NY 12538
845-229-8593

GreenStar Coop
701 W. Buffalo Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
6072759342

Mother Earth Storehouse
440 Kingsmall Court
Kingston, NY 12401
(845)336-5541

Sundance Farm Natural Foods
4200 South Street Road
Marcellus, NY 13108
(315)-673-7001

Peter’s Cornucopia
38 New Hartford Shopping Center
New Hartford, NY 13413
315-724-4998

Commodities East
165 1st Ave
New York, NY 10003
212-260-2600

Inside Out Stop
1791 Amsterdam Ave
New York, NY 10031
646-548-0657

Whole Foods
40 East 14th Street
New York, NY 10003

Whole Foods (Columbus Circle)
10 Columbus Circle Suite SC101
New York, NY 10019
212-823-9600

Whole Foods- Chelsea
260 7th Avenue
New York, NY 10001
212-924-9972

Pharma Care
892 9th Ave
New York, NY 10019
212-445-0933

Back to Earth Natural Foods
1 S Broadway
Nyack, NY 10960
845-353-3311

VNF Nutrition
1029 C. Route 112
Port Jefferson Station,, NY 11776
631-751-1762

Lori’s Natural Foods
1900 Jefferson Rd
Rochester, NY 14623
585-424-2323

Whole Foods (White Plains)
110 Bloomingdale Road
White Plains, NY 10605
914-288-1300

Sunflower Natural Foods Market
75 Mill Hill Road
Woodstock, NY 12498
845-679-5361

Cambridge Naturals
23 White Street Porter Square Shopping Center
Cambridge, MA 2138
617-492-4452

Cape Cod Natural Foods
Bell Tower Mall 1600 Falmouth Rd, Ste 27
Centerville, MA

Roots Natural Foods
100 Crawford St
Leominster, MA 1453
978-534-7668

Annye’s Whole Foods
14 Amelia Dr
Nantucket, MA 2554
508-228-4554

Willimantic Co-op
91 Valley Street
Willimantic, CT 6226
860-456-3611

Essene Market & Cafe
719 S 4th St
Philadelphia,, PA 19147
(212) 922-1146

Equality Just Goods
640 Field Club Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
412-353-0109

Talus
1288 Green Spring Dr
York, PA 17402
717-840-9889

South

Southwest States - NM, AZ, TX

Oregon

Washington

Traditional extraction of shea butter is
chemical free.

Hexane oil extraction plant.

Oil Extraction Methods

Traditional Oil Extraction

All of our products are produced using traditional, chemical free methods. Traditional extraction of oils has many benefits. Traditional methods are environmentally sustainable and help to preserve local knowledge and cultures. Furthermore, the oils produced contain their full moisturizing, healing and protective properties.

Hexane Extraction

However, the most common method for producing oils is through hexane extraction. This is especially true in the industrialized nations, but is becoming more common in the “less developed” nations as well. The following information on hexane extraction of oils has been paraphrased from the Producers’ Natural Processing Inc website (pnpi.com).

Hexane is the dominate extraction solvent for oil seeds throughout the world. Hexane is cheap and abundant, as it is a petroleum product and is produced during the production of gasoline. The combination of extremely large availability, very low cost, and simple effectiveness have led to hexane’s popularity. However, this has come at a cost to the consumers and the environment.

Hexane has been categorized as a hazardous air pollutant (HAP) by the US Environmental Protection Agency, and is included on the agency’s list of toxic chemicals (Inform, Vol. 9, No.7, July 1998:p 708.) By inherent design, even the newest oil processing facilities lose hexane into the environment. It has been estimated that an average sized soybean facility loses 6,000 pounds of hexane per day to the environment through atmospheric leaks. At this rate, an average oil producing facility would release one tanker truck (40,000 pounds) of hexane into the environment every week.

In addition, some residual hexane remains in the oil and meal (residues remaining from extraction that are used as animal feeds). Hexane residues can run as high as 0.5% in meal, high enough to kill baby piglets. Hexane forms an extremely strong bond with certain protein. Therefore, hexane released during digestion is free to bond with proteins and other hydrophobic molecules in the body, a phenomenon supported by over 30 years of research. A scientific study of six hexane-extracted cooking oils found higher than expected levels of pentane, hexane, heptane, octane and benzene derivatives in all the oils. This means that humans and livestock may be ingesting greater amounts of petroleum derivatives than previously thought through hexane-extracted oils and meal.

Hexane is a very efficient oil extractor, and extracted up to 5% of unsaponifiable materials. This means the resulting oils contain these ÒunwantedÓ materials, which then need to be removed to get odorless, colorless oil that pleases the public. The refinement process includes thermal processing and chemical additions, mainly sodium hydroxide and results in toxic waste sludge and greatly degraded unsaponifiables. Furthermore, the meal no longer contains the oil-soluble nutrients and is of much lower quality for animal feed.

Finally, hexane is a high-vapor-pressure gasoline, which is being endlessly redistilled in a closed loop, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. As a result, it is very volatile, flammable and explosive. Hexane is a simple physical hazard and many plants have exploded and burned over the past 50 years.

There are options to hexane extracting, including mechanical presses and traditional extraction procedures. However, hexane continues to be the major extraction method, and new hexane oil processing plants continue to be constructed. This is especially troubling in lower income countries, where these plants replace traditional extraction methods at a high environmental, social and economical cost.

African Wild Honey

Shea trees are a common source of nectar
and pollen for African honey bees.

African Wild Honey

T hroughout history, honey has been an important ingredient in traditional skin care. This is true in West Africa as well, where wild honey has been harvested from native honey bees for centuries. African Wild Honey is applied to the skin directly to heal and moisturize damaged skin, and is also mixed with shea butter and other traditional oils in balms.

Honey is a natural humectant and therefore has the ability to attract and retain moisture. Honey also has significant natural antioxidant properties. Recent articles have revealed honey’s effectiveness as an antimicrobial agent that inhibits the growth of certain bacteria.

Our African wild honey is unfiltered, unpasturized, and contains all its natural vitamins, minerals and amino acids to nourish the skin. We have combined our African Wild Honey with oats and Unrefined Shea Butter for nourishing and gentle moisture.

Kpangnan butter (Pentadesma butyracea)

Ripe kpangnan fruit in gallery forest, central Togo.

Traditional harvest of Kpangnan fruit in central Togo.

Kpangnan Butter

K pangnan is the butter from the African Butter Tree (Pentadesma butyracea), which grows in the gallery rainforests and riverbank forests in West Africa. Kpangnan is a traditional food and skin care oil in West Africa. In central Togo, it has cultural significance, and is used during local ceremonies.

Kpangnan has similarities to both shea butter and cocoa butter, but has its own unique fatty acid profile that gives the butter a distinctive smooth texture. Studies have found that Kpangnan contains a high amount of stigmasterol, an unsaturated plant sterol that contains anti-inflammatory agents.

Like all of our oils and butters, our Kpangnan is handcrafted using traditional methods and is completely unrefined and pure. We added Kpangnan in our formulations for extra softening and smoothing results.

West African Virgin Cocoa Butter

Ripe cacao pod from southern Togo.

Shade grown cacao in southern Togo gallery forest.

Extra Virgin Cocoa Butter

Humans have realized the benefit and value of cocoa butter for thousands of years. Cocoa beans were traded since 1000 BC along the Mexican Gulf Coast. Theobroma cacao, the tree that produces cocoa beans, has been grown in the wet tropical areas of West Africa since 1590. Cocoa butter was adapted into the local cultures, and has been part of local skin care for the past 400 years. We extract our extra virgin cocoa butter using traditional methods from shade grown cocoa beans from the mountainous Kpalime region in southern Togo. We use only shade grown cocoa beans purchased from small farmers at fair prices.

Cocoa butter is an excellent moisturizer and has a wonderful texture. Cocoa butter also has antioxidant properties due to tocopherols as well as certain polyphenols that suppress free radicals and soothe skin irritation.

As with our other butters, our cocoa butter is produced without any harsh chemicals and has not been refined in any way. Therefore, it retains all its natural healing and preventative properties. In addition, it has a lovely natural chocolate mocha scent.

West African Red Palm Oil

Traditional harvest of palm oil fruit, southern Togo.

Traditional extraction of red palm oil in southern Togo.

Red Palm Oil

Red palm oil is a unique and beautiful oil made from the fruits of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), which is native to West Africa. Oil palms have been important in the diet and skin care of West Africans for ever. The oil is used as food and as a skin conditioner and has cultural significance in many regions.

Our red palm oil is hand pressed from the fruits of traditional oil palm varieties that are grown on small, organic farms in Togo. We do not use any commercial plantation-grown palm fruits in our oil production. We use red palm oil in its natural state; it has not been refined in any way and contains all its natural vitamins and antioxidants. As a result, our red palm oil is a rich source of pro-vitamin A in the form of carotenoids. Virgin palm oil contains about 15 times more carotenoids than carrots, which gives the oil its deep red color.Virgin palm oil is also rich in vitamin E and other natural antioxidants. This oil adds a lovely yellow or orange tint to our products as well as boosts the nurturing and moisturizing properties.

West African Virgin Coconut Oil

Traditional harvest of coconuts in southern Togo. />

Ripe coconuts in southern Togo multicrop farm.

Virgin Coconut Oil

Virgin Coconut Oil is traditionally extracted oil from fresh fruit of the coconut palm, Cocos nucifera. Coconuts have been cultivated in coastal West Africa and been part of the diet and skin care for centuries. Virgin coconut oil is an important food oil, and is applied to skin and hair directly to protect from sun and wind damage.

Virgin Coconut Oil is high in natural antioxidants and protects skin from damaging free-radicals. It also helps keep skin firm and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Virgin Coconut Oil can help heal and repair the skin and make the skin smoother and more evenly textured by removing the outer layer of dead skin cells. We extract our Virgin Coconut Oil by hand in Togo, West Africa from fresh coconuts grown organically on small farms. We use our Virgin Coconut Oil in its natural, unrefined state for maximum effectiveness.

Antioxidant properties of unrefined Coconut Oil

Refined coconut oil has been stripped of natural antioxidants and is highly prone to free-radical generation. Free radicals damage skin cells and cause skin aging and cancer. The antioxidants in virgin coconut oil not only prevent free-radicals from forming in the oil, but also help protect against free-radicals that the skin is exposed to.

West African Neem Oil

Neem leaves and flowers in central Togo.

Neem tree in small organic farm, central Togo.

West African Neem

The neem (Azadirachta indica) is one of the most sacred trees in India. The neem is an evergreen tree indigenous to South Asia, but it grows in most tropical nations the world over including West Africa. Almost every family compound in Togo contains a neem tree. They are planted in school yards, on the edges of fields, and along roads as well.

Every part of the neem tree has been used in traditional medicine in India and other countries. Multiple studies have shown neem oil as well as leaf and bark extracts to have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant and antifungal properties. Furthermore, neem oil is very rich in fatty acids and is an excellent moisturizer. These properties make neem oil and neem extracts effective in treating skin conditions such as extreme dryness.

Neem oil and extracts are a valuable addition to our products. We have combined our hand pressed, unrefined neem oil with our unrefined shea butter for maximum moisturizing and healing formulations.

Wild Harvest Baobab - oil, bark and seed kernels.

Baobab fruit and seeds, central Togo

Baobab tree at sunrise, south-central Togo.

Wild Harvested Baobab

Baobab trees (Adansonia digitata) are special and distinctive features of the African savanna. The trees can live for up to 1000 years and grow to impressive sizes. They are uniquely adapted to the climate, and survive in even the driest regions of the savanna. Local communities revere the Baobab tree, for its strength and for its many uses. Bark is used for rope, paper, and medicinal extracts. The leaves are an important vegetable, and the fruit is also eaten or made into drinks. Baobab oil has special spiritual significance and is used for special occasions. Baobab leaves, bark, fruit and oil have also been part of African health care for centuries.

Recent studies in Europe have revealed a multitude of skin benefits from Baobab. Leaf and bark extracts tighten and tone skin, while oil from the seeds moisturizes and encourages skin cell regeneration with vitamins A, D and E.

Our Baobab products are sustainably harvested from wild Baobab trees and the oil is traditionally extracted and 100% unrefined. We recommend our Baobab products for mature skin, but they are suitable for all skin types.

Moral Responsibility

Children are the future of Africa; it is our
moral responsibility to improve their lives.

Women are the backbone of Africa, and their
work deserves to be fairly compensated.

For more than five centuries, Africa’s destiny has been in the hands of external powers, either through direct physical control of its human and natural resources, or through indirect economic control. More recently, colonial legacy combined with bad governance has led Africans to horrifying poverty, economic collapse, social breakdown and deep identity confusion. Even more disturbing is that these problems are not limited to Africa; they are pervasive throughout the world. We believe that these problems can only be mitigated through moral processes.

Empowerment through Fair Trade

The first step of self empowerment is the full recognition of the value of African products, knowledge and resources through fair prices. The proceeds should be returned to fund education, social and economic infrastructure, and health care. Fair prices will in the long run provide credibility and accountability to African economies because it is a change that comes from within, unlike the current practice of borrowing from global financial institutions. Africans will participate in sustainable economic development if trade practices are fair and benefit all parties. Furthermore, Fair Trade provides stable incomes, which in turn allow participation in education and strengthen social structures.

One Human Family

As part of the human family, regardless of where we are located on earth, we believe it is our moral duty to behave and act in ways that help rather than harm other fellow humans. One way to do this is to talk to your legislature to support Fair Trade policies towards poor countries. Another is to purchase fairly traded products as much as possible and to talk about the importance of this issue with your friends and family. While Fair Trade coffee and bananas are well known, it is important to realize that all goods should be and can be fairly traded, and it is our individual responsibility to make sure that they are.

Community Empowerment Projects
In January, 2006 we met with the school
directors and students of the Adjorogo primary
school, where we donated desks in 2004.

Alaffia welcomes visits and tours at our
facility in Olympia, WA, such as this tour
from a local seniors group.

We also speak on fair trade and community
empowerment at schools, colleges and
universities across the United States.

Our retail stores throughout the United
States are also an important part of the
Alaffia community.

We welcome visits from our retail buyers
to help them understand our philosophy,
mission, and products.

Alaffia strives to be an integral part of our communities in Washington state and in Togo, West Africa. Here are a few ways we participate:

Togo, West Africa

Alaffia/Agbanga Shea Butter Cooperative
The Alaffia/Agbanga Shea Butter Cooperative is an important part of the greater Sokode community. We provide stable, fair incomes to over 80 families. The Cooperative also provides medical care and other assistance when needed. Our members are proud to be able to use their indigenous knowledge to feed and cloth their families. One of our goals is for the cooperative to be a model for other groups and individuals in Togo and other West African nations to follow.

Community Enhancement Projects
Ten percent of our sales go directly to fund community enhancement projects in Togo. We have several projects, all of which serve to enhance community self reliance and sustainability. Please see the links to the left for more details on our community projects in central Togo.

Washington State, USA

Alaffia Global Community Scholarship
The Alaffia Global Community Scholarship is designed to assist low income high school seniors in Washington State obtain higher education degrees. See the Scholarship page for more information.

Soaps & Lotions for Local Shelters
Our community building activities in Washington also include donating soap and lotions to local women’s shelters. We believe everyone should have access to high quality body care products, especially those who are facing difficulties in their daily lives.

Visits to Alaffia
Alaffia is building our Washington community by providing regular visits to our production room, where we discuss Fair Trade and demonstrate how we make our soaps and lotions. On April 6th, we welcomed 42 elders from the Tacoma, Washington area for a tour of our facility. They participated in a demonstration of our cold processed shea butter soap and a talk about how they can help promote Fair trade practices in our communities.

Soap Making Classes
Alaffia teams with a local retailer, Radiance Herbs and Massage, to offer soap making classes at our facility several times a year. The next class will be offered late summer/early fall 2007. For more information please contact us.

Internships
Alaffia works with several schools and universities to provide internships for students interested in learning about fair trade. We currently work with students from Stanwood High School in Stanwood, WA; Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA; and Antioch University in Seattle, WA. For more information, please visit the Internships page.

Global Community

Alaffia Retailer Community
The retail stores that carry our products are also an important part of our global community. Many dedicated staff members are helping to spread our message and our values to their customers. There are also several stores that are working directly with us on our community enhancement projects, including the Fousena Fund, Hope through Health and Bicycles for Education. Our retail stores are vital for reaching communities and individuals beyond our own regions in Washington and Togo. Visit our retail store locater page to see if there is a store in your area.

Community Education & Outreach
One of our main goals is to educate others about empowerment through fair trade. We speak at high schools, colleges, universities and community centers about these topics and what we do. We have also taught classes at local high schools and universitites, including Stanwood High School, Tacoma School of the Arts, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA, and the University of California, Davis. If you are interested in us visiting your school or organization, please contact us.

Alaffia handcrafted shea butter
and other indigenous ingredients

Sustainable skin care depends on using ingredients
that are grown in ecology responsible farms.

Fair trade ingredients help our Togolese
communities remain self-sustaining.

Indigenous ingredients work synergistically
for powerful and effective body care.

Indigenous Ingredients

Alaffia was founded on the belief that the fair trade of indigenous resources is the future for a sustainable economic, social and ecological future. Shea butter is one of the most important natural resources of the West African savanna. Shea butter, the oil from the seed of the endemic shea tree, is incorporated into all areas of savanna societies. It has played an integral part in West African history. Shea butter has been found in Egyptian tombs, and is mentioned in many historical African documents. The control of the shea butter trade was also one of the main reasons for European colonial expansion into the northern savanna.

Recently, the skin care properties of shea butter have become well known, causing a buzz in the skin care industry. The skin care properties of shea butter are truly unique, amazing and special. We realized early that shea butter has the potential to support families in communities in the areas where it is produced, but only if it is traded fairly. Our first intention was to support our Togolese communities with the sale of indigenous shea butter and other oils to other skin care manufacturers.

We soon realized that to truly advance our message and philosophy, we would need to provide the finished products as well. Not only does this bring a greater percentage of the final sales price to our communities in Togo, it also ensures that our products are made with the purest, freshest ingredients. Every product we make is made with a base of our own unrefined shea butter and other indigenous oils.

While Unrefined Shea Butter is our main ingredient, we feel it is equally important to provide our customers with the benefits of the other unique ingredients that we make in Togo. Each ingredient is handcrafted in Togo under fair trade, organic and traditional guidelines. We do not refine any of our oils and care is taken to preserve their maximum healing and protective properties in our finished products. The seeds, leaves, and fruits are sustainably harvested from wild trees or grown by small farmers under organic and fair trade guidelines.

Our ingredients are unique, and as a result, you may not be familiar with the special properties of each one. Please follow the links on the left to learn more about our indigenous ingredients.

Sitemap

Shea trees grow wild throughout the savannas of central and northern Togo.

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Click “Next” to begin seeing how our Shea Butter is produced using sustainable methods. All of our workers are paid fair or “living” wages.

To locate a Retail Store in your state please click on a state on the map below.
For stores outside the United States, click here

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Representatives

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In Sub-Saharan Africa, 251,000 women die every year of risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth.(1) Over her lifetime, an African woman has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth, compared to 1 in 2,400 in Europe.(2)

Causes

There are several reasons for the high maternal mortality rates in Sub Saharan Africa. These include, but are not limited to, socioeconomic disadvantages (extreme poverty), and inadequate infrastructure.

Hope

While the problem seems insurmountable, improvements are possible. The World Health Organization and others recommend the following to help reduce maternal mortality across the world: (3)
1. Better resource management and efficient application of existing knowledge to provide proper maternal care, including basic care during and after pregnancy and adequate and timely specialized care.
2. Income and gender equality and community empowerment to strengthen community involvement in using indigenous knowledge, participating in education, training and research, and improving primary health care skills.

Fousena Fund

In March, 2006, we launched the Fousena Fund, in memory of Fousena Tchala, the sister of our founder, who passed away in November, 2005 of complications during the birth of her second child. 5% of our opening store orders are dedicated to the Fousena Fund, to be used to purchase medical materials and medicines for womenÕs clinics in Togo and to conduct community training programs on maternal mortality

Sources

1. World Health Organization (WHO), Maternal Mortality in 2000: Estimates Developed by WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA (Geneva: WHO, 2004).
2. Collymore, Y. Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Tracking and Reducing Maternal Deaths Presents Major Challenges (www.prb.org, 2005).
3. World Heath Organization (WHO), The Road to Safe Motherhood (www.afro.who.int/drh/safe-motherhood/safe_road.htm: WHO, 2006).

As desertification expands southward from the Sahara, it is logical to conclude that it will eventually impact Togo as well. This is especially true as climate change and global warming bring unknown and unpredictable weather patterns to our region. Furthermore, there has been a recent increase in deforestation due to timber harvest and charcoal production.

In order to mitigate current deforestation in our communities, Alaffia and the Global Alliance for Community Empowerment (GACE) have begun a tree planting project. We purchase young trees and distribute them to small towns and villages. This is a perpetual project and we would like to expand it throughout West Africa.

Tree

This year, Alaffia and GACE began a long-term tree planting in Togo as a way to prevent and mitigate deforestation and climate change. We distributed 55 trees to volunteers in the town of Nigbaoude in central Togo. Next year, we will proceed in larger scale, focusing our attention in the Dapaong region in northern Togo, which is experiencing the threat of desertification to a greater degree.

To read more about our community-building efforts in Togo, look at the GACE website.

Our current community projects focus on education and empowerment of young Africans. We believe that the future of Africa lies in the hands of the young, and that if young Africans are helped with the dilemmas they face - such as harsh poverty and lack of infrastructure, they will in turn help Africa in the future.

Community

Students in Togo are required to provide their own school uniforms and books, which can be a daunting expense for poor families. For two years, we have donated school supplies and uniforms to more than 300 children in our communities. Also, local schools in small towns must build and furnish schools on their own. Many schools do not have adequate seating or roofing, as these are expensive. We have donated desks and installed new school roofs to make learning a more enjoyable experience.

Read more about our education projects at the Empowerment Alliance website.

Today in many rural areas of Africa, school children walk an average of 10 miles a day to and from school. As part of our efforts to empower disadvantaged students, we are collecting used bicycles in Washington State to send to Togo through the Global Alliance for Community Empowerment. These bicycles will be distributed to these students in rural areas that have such a long way to walk to get to school.

Benefits for Communities and the Environment

This project has multiple benefits across the Togolese and Washington communities. The bicycles will provide an incentive for children to participate in the educational process, since it will greatly reduce the time they spend walking in the hot sun or rain. In addition, bicycles are a cheaper and cleaner way to travel than automobiles, especially in a poor country like Togo. Carbon dioxide emissions are growing 3.5 times faster in West Africa compared to industrialized nations. It is clear that countries with no solid medical infrastructure will not be able to cope with the disease and health problems caused by high pollution, since they are already burdened by the problems of malaria and AIDS. Finally, this project reuses valuable resources that would otherwise be thrown away.

Bike

Click here to see local news articles about our Fair Trade Shea Butter and our Bike Project:

* The Olympian
* Bainbridge Island Review

Paraben Free Skin Care

About preservatives in our products

Lotions, creams and other body products that contain water must be preserved in some manner to prevent the growth of bacteria, yeast and fungi.

There are several preservative options, including sterilization, refrigeration, and the addition of chemical preservatives. Sterilization works until the bottle or jar is opened, and refrigeration cost and logistics prohibit this option. There are a multitude of chemical preservatives available. By far the most popular option in conventional body care products are a class of chemicals known as parabens.

NO Alaffia products contain Parabens

Recent scientific studies have shown that parabens may accumulate in body tissues and they have been found in breast cancer tumors(1).While they are still one of the most cost effective preservative options, we believe their potential danger to health makes them an unwise choice.

For Alaffia products that must contain preservatives, we use potassium sorbate, a chemical that occurs naturally in the roots of mountain ash. Potassium sorbate is a food grade, generally recognized as safe (GRAS) preservative that is approved world wide, including the EU, USA and Japan. In addition it is a pure, biodegradable product that is gentle on skin.

(1) Darbre, PD, A Aljarrah, WR Miller, NG Coldham, MJ Sauer and GS Pope. 2004. Concentrations of parabens in human breast tumors. Journal of Applied Toxicology 24: 5-13.

Shea Butter is the oil from the nuts of wild Shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa) scattered throughout the wooded savanna of West and Central Africa. Shea Butter has been used for centuries in Africa and is completely enmeshed within the history and culture of the West African savanna. Shea Butter is mentioned in almost all African historical documents, including a reference as early as Cleopatra’s Egypt, which mentions caravans bearing clay jars of Shea Butter for cosmetic use. Funeral beds of kings were carved in the wood of old Shea Trees, and Shea Butter has always been a staple of African pharmacology.

Indigenous Knowledge for Skin Care

Shea Butter has been used for centuries in Africa as a decongestant, an anti-inflammatory for sprains and arthritis, healing salve, lotion for hair and skin care, and cooking oil. However, the protective and emollient properties of Shea Butter are most valued for skin care. In recent clinical trials, Shea Butter was found to help to protect skin against climate and UV aggressions, prevent wrinkle formation, soothe irritated and chapped skin, and moisturize the epidermis. Shea Butter also enhances cell regeneration and capillary circulation, which helps prevent and minimize stretch marks, inflammations, and scarring.

Handcrafted & unrefined Shea Butter contains the maximum amount of healing and moisturizing properties. Chemically extracted and refined Shea Butter is white and odorless and has reduced beneficial properties. Read more about the benefits of Unrefined Oils and Butters.

Try Shea Butter on these conditions:

• Wrinkles
• Dry Skin
• Psoriasis
• Massage
• Hair care
• Stretch marks
• Burns
• Arthritis
• Chapped lips
• Sun damage
• Cracked and dry heels or elbows
• Small wounds and scrapes
• Diaper rash (prevention and relief)
• Insect bites & stings
• Muscle fatigue, aches & tension
• Pets (skin infections, dry skin & coats)

How to use Shea Butter

For direct application to the skin, take a small amount in the palm of your hand. Rub your hands together to warm up the butter until it is smooth and liquid. Then apply to your skin. If you are concerned about an oily feeling, use only a small amount or apply the Shea Butter before going to bed. Shea Butter absorbs quickly into the skin, but there will be a few minutes that it feels oily. Shea Butter can also be applied to your hair. Some people apply it before washing to protect the hair from harsh shampoos. It can also be applied after washing as a conditioner. Apply it in the same manner as to the skin.

Click here to see how our Shea Butter is made.
Unrefined Shea Butter

Only pure, unrefined Shea Butter has the true healing and moisturizing properties of Shea Butter. Most Shea Butter available to the general public outside West Africa is white and odorless: in other words, it has been “refined” to remove the natural scent and color of natural Shea Butter. In the process, the majority of the effective agents are also removed.

In addition, refined Shea Butter has usually been extracted from the shea kernels with hexane or other petroleum solvents. The extracted oil is boiled to drive off the toxic solvents, and then refined, bleached, and deodorized, which involves heating it to over 400¡F and the use of harsh chemicals, such as sodium hydroxide.

Shea Butter extracted in this manner still contains some undesirable solvent residues, and its healing values are significantly reduced. Antioxidants or preservatives such as BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) or BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) may be added as well. The end result is an odorless, white butter that may be aesthetically appealing, but lacks the true moisturizing, healing, and nutritive properties of true traditional Shea Butter.

The Difference

In addition, refined Shea Butter is often hard and grainy, not smooth and creamy like pure, unrefined Shea Butter. All that can be said for refined Shea Butter is that it has an extended shelf life, a white, uniform color, no odor, and greatly reduced therapeutic benefits from the Shea Butter.
All of our oils and butters are handcrafted and unrefined so they retain their natural healing and moisturizing properties.