The shea tree is a traditional African food plant. It produces the Shea fruit that is made up of a thin, tart, nutritious pulp that surrounds a relatively large, oil-rich seed from which shea butter is extracted.

Shea butter is a fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer, salve or lotion. Shea butter is edible and is used in food preparation in some African countries. Shea butter is sometimes mixed with other oils as a substitute for cocoa butter. Walnan 4 works with community women groups to parboil and extract the oil into butter for supply to clients.