Illegal charcoal production and climate change are endangering shea trees in Kwara State, experts have warned, raising concerns over the long-term sustainability of the sector just as the state prepares to launch a major processing facility.

The warning was issued at an inception workshop on Sustainable Management of Shea Butter Agro-Forest Parklands for Improved Livelihoods, held in Ilorin.

Kwara is set to commission a 50-tonne-per-day shea butter processing factory in Kaiama the largest state-owned plant and the second-largest in Nigeria. The facility is expected to process over 50,000 tonnes annually, create thousands of jobs, and boost the state's position in the global shea market.

However, Professor Olabisi Fatimah Adekola of the University of Ilorin cautioned that despite government bans, widespread felling of shea trees for charcoal production continues unchecked, undermining productivity and threatening future supply.

She stressed the need for urgent enforcement of protective policies, community engagement, and reforestation initiatives to ensure the industry's growth does not come at the cost of environmental degradation.

According to her, "While research has reduced the gestation period of shea trees from 25 years to between five and seven years, making them attractive for commercial planting, the ongoing destruction of these trees threatens not only the crop but also the incomes of thousands of rural households"

Prof. Adekola noted that shea trees, which previously flowered up to three times a year, now produce only once, underscoring the negative impact of environmental stressors.

She added that her team is using tissue culture technology to mass-produce high-quality shea plants in vitro, preserving critical genetic traits.

Kwara State Commissioner for Environment and Forestry, Hajia Nafisat Buge, said the government is committed to protecting shea parklands and supporting local processing.

"The state is prioritizing agro-industrial development while ensuring that shea cultivation benefits rural economies and preserves our natural resources," she said.

For his part, Mr Profit Jones, a technical advisory group member of the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP), revealed that a $50,000 shea project had been launched through the Haashim Initiative for Community Advancement (HICA) to support sustainable management, farmer training, and income generation.

He noted that Nigeria, despite being the world's largest producer of shea nuts, earns only $15 million annually from exports, far below its potential of $400 million.

The project manager of the programme, Dr. Kayode Abdulazeez Kawthar, explained that the initiative aims to protect existing parklands, establish new shea woodlots, and provide farmers with the skills to propagate shea trees efficiently.

"This pilot programme could serve as a model for nationwide replication," he said.

The workshop attracted government officials, academics, farmers, and civil society representatives, including the Kwara Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr. Lawal Olohungbebe, and the Director of Community Development at Kwara State University, Malete.

The experts emphasized that the combination of environmental threats and illegal activities could undermine Kwara's strategic push to become a hub for shea processing, an effort bolstered by President Bola Tinubu's recent six-month ban on raw shea nut exports to promote local value addition.