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Vodafone Ghana Foundation has supported women in the cottage industry in the Upper East Region by donating GH�20,000 to their shea butter business. The Foundation made the donation, which is the largest the business has received, through AfriKids Ghana, a child rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to helping the most vulnerable children in northern Ghana. The NGO has recognised the need to engage and support women in order to sustain the support they give to the children. AfriKids has been helping women with their business activities by providing them with micro-finance loans and other business-support services. A group of 150 women in Sirigu, a deprived area in the Kassena Nankana West District of the Upper East Region, approached AfriKids Ghana to help them expand their shea butter business as they found the traditional methods of extracting shea butter laborious and restrictive to the growth of their business. AfriKids has been helping them through micro-finance loans and investing in equipment to help them expand production. Vodafone Ghana Foundation�s donation of GH�20,000 has given the women the ability to further invest in equipment, which will fully mechanise their shea butter production, increasing not only the quantity, but the quality of shea butter produced. Patrick Boateng, director of External Affairs at Vodafone Ghana, explains the Foundation�s motivation for making the donation, �We believe that women are the bedrock of our society. Their prosperity will reflect in the welfare of their children and will ultimately lead to the social and economic development of our society. These women have shown a determination to grow their business so that they can take care of their children and get them a good education. The Foundation is proud to be able to give them that opportunity.� Increasingly, women in the Sirigu community are responsible for paying the costs associated with educating their children and the success of their business has a direct correlation to the welfare of their children. The donation has also contributed to the growth of the cottage industry in the Upper East Region. Nicholas Kumah, director of AfriKids Ghana, stated, �Vodafone Ghana Foundation�s donation comes at a time when there are calls for investment into the cottage industries, of which shea butter is one. We are truly grateful for the contribution the Foundation has made to the lives of these women and the economic growth of northern Ghana.� The Foundation also trained the women in the use and maintenance of the equipment, giving them full control of all aspects of their business. The new improved business owners can now add value to the shea butter market by producing pomades and soaps. AfriKids is working with them to solicit orders from the international market where the demand for shea butter products is greatest; they have so far had a successful partnership with Shea Mooti, a company based in the UK.