About Us
Okere Shea Cooperative Society is a community-owned social enterprise based in Okere, Otuke District, Northern Uganda, dedicated to transforming the unique Nilotica shea (Vitellaria nilotica) resource into sustainable livelihoods, thriving rural enterprises, and healthier landscapes.
Established in 2020, the Cooperative brings together smallholder farmers, shea nut collectors, processors and community members—predominantly women—across Northern Uganda's Nilotica shea landscape. We connect rural producers to premium local and international markets while ensuring that the communities who protect and harvest shea benefit more fairly from its growing economic value.
At the heart of our work is value addition at source. Rather than exporting raw shea nuts and losing much of their potential value, we invest in local processing, quality assurance, storage, traceability, and market development. At our processing facility in Okere, we produce premium cold-pressed, unrefined Nilotica shea butter for the cosmetics, personal care, and natural products industries.
Our work extends beyond shea butter production. We see the shea tree as the foundation of an entire regenerative rural economy. We work with farming communities to promote sustainable harvesting, Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, agroforestry, soil restoration, fire management, tree conservation and regenerative agriculture. We are also developing circular-economy opportunities, including converting shea-processing residues such as shells into biochar and other useful products.
Women are central to the Nilotica shea value chain and to our Cooperative. By improving prices for shea nuts, creating local employment, developing skills, strengthening women's participation in cooperative ownership and connecting producers directly to higher-value markets, we aim to ensure that women capture a greater share of the wealth generated from a resource they have protected and utilized for generations.
Today, Okere Shea Cooperative is building an integrated model that connects community ownership, conservation, regenerative agriculture, rural industrialisation and global markets. Our ambition is to demonstrate that protecting Africa's natural resources and building prosperous rural economies are not competing objectives—they can reinforce each other.
The Okere Shea Cooperative Society 2026–2030 Strategic Plan provides a five-year roadmap for transforming the Cooperative from an emerging community-based shea enterprise into a competitive, sustainable and internationally recognized Nilotica shea business. The strategy places women, smallholder farmers and the conservation of Northern Uganda's Nilotica shea landscape at the centre of commercial growth.
By 2030, Okere Shea Cooperative aims to become one of the leading producers and suppliers of premium cold-pressed Nilotica shea butter, while demonstrating that rural industrialisation can simultaneously create jobs, increase household incomes, empower women and regenerate natural landscapes.
The strategy is organized around six interconnected priorities:
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Expand Sustainable Shea Supply
Grow the Cooperative's network of members, collectors and suppliers; strengthen aggregation and storage systems; improve harvesting and post-harvest practices; and establish a reliable, traceable supply of high-quality Nilotica shea nuts. -
Scale Processing and Rural Industrialisation
Expand processing capacity, improve energy and water infrastructure, strengthen quality-control systems and progressively develop Okere into a rural agro-industrial hub capable of producing shea butter and other value-added products at commercial scale. -
Develop Premium Markets and Products
Strengthen the Okere Shea brand, expand exports and build long-term relationships with cosmetics, personal-care and natural-product companies. The Cooperative will diversify into products including cosmetic-grade shea butter, edible shea products and other shea derivatives while pursuing relevant quality, organic and sustainability certifications. -
Increase Women's Economic Ownership
Move beyond women's participation primarily as shea collectors by strengthening their roles as cooperative members, shareholders, skilled workers, entrepreneurs and leaders. Better nut prices, employment, enterprise opportunities and future dividends will enable communities to capture more of the economic value generated by the shea industry. -
Regenerate the Nilotica Shea Landscape
Scale up tree conservation, natural regeneration, agroforestry, and regenerative agriculture while addressing major threats, including tree cutting, uncontrolled bushfires, and declining soil health. The Cooperative will strengthen digital traceability and MRV systems and explore climate finance, carbon insetting and biochar production from shea-processing residues. -
Build a Strong and Investable Cooperative
Strengthen governance, financial management, member participation, traceability, quality assurance, data systems and professional management. Partnerships with government, researchers, development organizations, investors and private-sector buyers will support the Cooperative's transition toward long-term financial sustainability.