‘Shito’ Pepper Processors Come Together Under One Brand Born into a family of traditional healers, Hajara “Bobobo” Taimaku learned to love and appreciate horticulture early in life. However, upon her father’s death, she began practicing traditional medicine sooner than anticipated to help provide for her seven younger siblings. The need for rare medicinal plants and trees led her to seek training in agro-forestry. “At the Bonso Agriculture College I learned the practical aspects of agronomy like raising seedlings and grafting trees,” says Bobobo.
“When I sold shito on my own, I needed to go around carrying bottles on my head—going from place to place in the hot sun, until it is all sold,” says Bobobo. She added, “We agreed to form a group so that we can gain from farmers and they can gain from us and we can do business together.”
A womens’ coop
“When we sold the shito on our own, we cleaned and reused old bottles, but the government told us that we must use brand new bottles,” says Bobobo. Other government requirements including sanitary processing plants meant that coop members needed to invest their own savings, but even when the contribution figure went down to 100 Ghana cedis, only four women could come up with the requisite amount.
brings together
pepper farmers &
processors to make
She and her mother eventually purchased ten acres of land in the Tamale area where the family planted mangoes, tomatoes, peppers and onions. Bobobo also raised seedlings and sold some to nearby farmers. To earn extra income, she recently began processing pepper and mangoes. “This is how I got involved in Northern Fingers,” declared Bobobo.
and distribute their
own brand of shito.
Bobobo joined Northern Fingers, a collective of 12 women to facilitate the making of the popular peppery condiment, known in Ghana as shito. A year ago, the German non-governmental organization, GTZ, and the 1000s+ project invited her to a “meeting with pepper growers and pepper sellers.” The women were convinced that by pooling their resources they could better process and bottle shito using the necessary ingredients: two types of hot pepper, tomatoes, dried fish and oil, and sell it under the ‘Northern Fingers’ brand name.
Bobobo had the necessary financial resources to contribute to Northern Fingers, but coming up with the agreed amount was especially difficult because she is building her own processing plant. “I have gained experience processing and packaging ginger, pepper and drying mangoes, but I want to do this on a much larger scale and get the government’s approval to sell my products in supermarkets,” says Bobobo. “The supermarkets, restaurants and hotels want you to have your own grinder and right now I can’t afford it,” says Bobobo. But Bobobo will not give up. All of her profits from the sale of her hand processed pepper and ginger goes towards the new structure.