Dear readers,
This is already our last update from our project Sommalife. We are almost heading home and are now busy with rounding up the project and handing over our insights, so that our activities will be continued in the future!
Besides planting 500 trees and setting up the nursery in one of the communities, we did a lot of other activities, such as making an impact plan, designing a new product line, sales from Sommalife, creating social media content, and designing a construction site for shea butter.
First, we have made a part of the impact plan for Sommalife. We have made an analysis on the Sustainable Development Goals and we went over every activity that Sommalife does and see if this fits with the indicators of the goals. Now, Sommalife knows exactly the kind of impact they are making and in which goal this belongs. Furthermore, we have made recommendations for activities that Sommalife can still do in the future to include even more SDGs in the making of impact.
Second, we have designed a new product line. Sommalife wants to sell soaps, cosmetics, etc. under a new product line. The name of this product line is Perloo, which means transparent in Waali (local language of Wa). The name is a symbol for being transparent in the production line, fair trade, and sustainability. For the design of this product line, we have designed new packaging.
To promote this product line, we have a third activity, we have sent 100 e-mails to companies in Europe and America who are a good fit for Sommalife. There are already some companies who are willing to work together with Sommalife and want to sell our products in their stores. For this, we only focussed on companies and later this year these products can also be ordered by customers directly!
Fourth, we have made a lot of pictures and videos from our activities in the communities. We have made a lot of content, for among other things Instagram and LinkedIn. This way, we want to create more (brand) awareness from Sommalife.
The last activity that we did was designing the floor plans for a new construction site for the products of Sommalife. Sommalife wants to open its own factory where shea nuts and shea butter can be produced into final products. In this way, the shea nuts and shea butter are not exported to China and made to final products there, but the production process stays here in Ghana in the communities. Sommalife is one of the few companies that does this and therefore they are very progressive. The floor plans are handed over to an architect that is going to manage the build of the factory.
We are very proud of what we have accomplished in the three months that we have been in Ghana. We have the feeling that we have really made an impact and that we have learnt so much from our experiences here in Ghana. Hopefully, our activities will be continued in the future and we can’t wait to see the results in a few months.
