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For decades, Aringa North constituency in Yumbe District has been known as a shea nut belt but the ancient wonder tree is facing extinction from over-cutting by commercial charcoal dealers.

The local community says the shea nut tree (pentadesma butyracea) has been a vital source of food, medicine and income for centuries.

Ms Mariam Chandiru from Midigo Town Council says Midigo was thickly covered by the shea nut trees, but are now scattered because of the invasion of the area by charcoal dealers.

‘’We depended on the shea nut oil which is better than the industrial oil sold on the market. But because the trees are being destroyed, it is rare to get the locally processed butter nowadays,” she says.

Ms Chandiru, who relives memories of the good old days, says: “By the time the trees were plenty, we would go around homesteads to collect the shea nut seeds to make oil out of it and the fruits can also be eaten but this time, we trek for miles to harvest them.”

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