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  • What is a Uganda shea nut?
  • Uganda shea nut (Vitellaria paradoxa), goes under various names including the chi tree. With an origin in West Africa, perhaps Ghana, where domestication history runs a millennium back, the tree is readily available in the rainforests of Uganda. The country grows the main East African variety, nilotica or shea butter.
  • Where do you get your shea nuts?
  • We source our shea nuts from family growers who practice small-scale ‘moo yao’ farming, as shea butter is known in the Acholi vernacular. Most of our sources come from the north of the country where the farmers have as little as one acre and maximum two acres of cultivated land.
  • What is shea butter oil?
  • As a testament of its importance, shea butter oil is the number two export commodity in Africa in the heels of oil palm. This is because the nut has about 48% oil in its total dry matter. Like its name belies, shea butter is highly made up of fat, most of which is saturated at 234 percent of the daily value.
  • Where does shea butter come from?
  • With an origin in West Africa, perhaps Ghana, where domestication history runs a millennium back, the tree is readily available in the rainforests of Uganda. The country grows the main East African variety, nilotica or shea butter. The processed nut has a savory, attractive yellow hue when shelled.