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  • Does shea butter grow in Ethiopia?
  • The shea tree is a fruit tree that grows naturally in the wild, in the dry Savannah belt, also known as the shea belt which stretches from Senegal in West Africa to Sudan in the east, and on to the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands.
  • How long does it take for a shea butter tree to grow?
  • Its growth is very slow and seedlings take 2 3 years to reach field planting. The juvenile stage of shea tree lasts very long, 15- 20 years, hence the difficulty in its domestication. Flowering starts at about the age of 20 years and production reaches maturity at the age of 40- 50 years.
  • How is shea nut oil made?
  • You can make the oil right away or you can store it. To make the oil, the dried nuts are cracked, roasted and milled. Water is added to draw out the shea butter which is then boiled to evaporate out the water. The oil turns clear leaving a bit of the sediment at the bottom. The oil is definitely floral.
  • What are the four materials used at the shea butter production industry?
  • The shea kernel is obtained from processing fresh shea fruits and further processed into shea butter. Manual and semi-mechanized methods are employed in processing shea kernel into butter. Major inputs are; kernel, water, energy, and time and outputs are; shea butter and wastewater.