Burt’s Bees SheKeeper program
Burt’s Bees announced SheKeeper, a $2 million, three-year partnership with USAID, Partnership for Natural Ingredients and Burt’s Bees shea and beeswax suppliers, aimed at diversifying income of shea producers and increasing exports from West Africa.
“SheKeeper fosters community and commercial partnerships with shea-producing women's groups by introducing the multi-generational practice of beekeeping,” said Shannon Hess, Burt’s Bees director of responsible sourcing.
SheKeeper will create an opportunity for at least 600 women to expand their skill set, opening new career paths for an entire generation, the company noted.
In addition to generating market linkages and expanding production and sales of shea, beeswax, and honey, SheKeeper will help increase Ghanaian exports and create new jobs while building the capacity of 1,200 smallholders.
The program has the potential to establish a scalable framework for the future, impacting the livelihoods of the more than 16 million women collectors and processors across the 21 African countries that make up the shea processing industry, the company related.
Building on longstanding efforts to support women’s groups in shea-producing communities in Ghana, this collaboration helps advance Burt’s Bees and USAID’s shared women's economic empowerment and gender equality priorities, the firm pointed out.
Beekeeping, a crucial link in the supply chain for many of the ingredients used by Burt’s Bees, is a highly specialized craft commonly practiced by men around the world. SheKeeper puts women at the center of beekeeping.
In SheKeeper, women participants from shea communities select a beekeeping partner and they will work as a team to manage the hives and collect and sell the honey and beeswax.
“Beekeeping opens opportunities for greater economic empowerment of women and youth and increased biodiversity for future generations,” added Hess.
The SheKeeper program expands the brand's Global Supply Chain Investment Program, it noted, which alongside responsible sourcing assessments and third-party audits aims to impact the livelihoods of more than 50,000 people across its supply chain by 2025.