The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Pader, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Hundreds of women in Pader District who depend on shea butter for survival are trekking long distances to neighboring districts in search of raw materials, as the felling of shea nut trees intensifies. Charcoal producers and land developers continue to cut down mature shea trees across sub-counties like Angagura, Awere, and Atanga, despite a national ban on their destruction.
Local women say they have watched helplessly as the trees vanish from their communities. The destruction is not only erasing a rare ecological asset but also stripping vulnerable households of a vital source of income, pushing many families further into poverty. Evelyn Lanyero, 45, has earned a living solely from selling hot-pressed shea butter at Lacekocot Trading Centre in Atanga Sub-county for over two decades. Before the widespread destruction of the trees, Lanyero harvested between 30 to 60 kilograms of nuts from each shea tree in her garden.
Each season, she earned up to three million shillings, enough to pay school fees, run her household, and still save and reinvest. Using proceeds from shea butter, she supported her eldest child from nursery school through a diploma in plumbing. Four other children are still in school, thanks to the same trade.
Today, the trees in her village are gone. To keep her business alive, Lanyero travels 80 kilometers to Wol Sub-county in Agago District to buy shea nuts for 2,000 to 2,500 shillings per kilogram. What once required only the energy to harvest has turned into a costly and exhausting search.
Shea butter production, once a thriving informal industry in Pader, is now on the brink of collapse. The butter is widely used for cosmetics, cooking, and traditional medicine. In Acholi culture, hot-pressed shea butter has long been used as both a food seasoning and a body moisturizer.
But for more than a decade now, that source of livelihood has been under threat, primarily from commercial charcoal production. Rose Akumu, 50, another shea butter producer from Pader, now travels to Otuke District in Lango and parts of Agago to purchase nuts. For the past three years, she has struggled to adjust to the new reality of spending money on what she once gathered for free.
“Back then, I didn’t need capital to do my shea butter business. Now that the trees at home have been cut, I have to travel from place just to keep my businesses going. Sometimes I come back with nothing,” Akumu said. She adds that the journeys have not only drained her finances but also taken a toll on her health and safety.
“When I go far, my body aches because of the bumpy roads. I also fear for my safety, because the poor roads and vehicles put our lives at risk.” Despite repeated efforts by environmentalists and local leaders to protect the shea tree, classified as endangered, enforcement of the national ban remains weak.
Justine Oryema, secretary to the chief of the Payira clan, told Uganda Radio Network that during a clan-led assessment on May 5th and 6th this year, over 4,000 shea trees were found to have been destroyed in Angagura Sub-county alone. “And that number only reflects a small area surveyed over two days. The actual destruction is likely much higher,” Oryema noted.
According to Oryema, the clan stopped the survey after only two days because of a lack of cooperation from people he described as “influential and actively involved in the charcoal business.” For women like Lanyero and Akumu, soon there might be nowhere to turn to as the damage done at home is the same elsewhere. Last month, cultural leaders in Agago also revealed that at least 42,100 shea nut trees had been destroyed in the district in the past one and a half years, according to a mini-survey they conducted.
The ongoing devastation has drawn national and global concern. In June 2025, the Global Environment Facility approved a 2.2 billion shilling grant to support shea tree protection across Pader, Agago, Kitgum, and Otuke, districts, most affected by the destruction. The funding aims to build a climate-resilient and sustainable shea landscape in northern Uganda and will run through 2029.
***
URN
