Shea drying systems in Mali
What the crop demands, what the country imposes, and what that means for capacity.
Malian shea parkland is extensive and the collection economy reaches deep into rural households, where the kernel is often the only cash income a woman controls directly. The quality loss between collection and sale is therefore not an abstraction — it comes straight out of that income, and it happens during drying.
The situation in Mali
Two quite separate agricultural countries share one border. The south around Sikasso is humid, green and grows mango, cotton and cereals; the inland delta and the Sahel run on livestock and river fish. Both are a long way from a port — Dakar and Abidjan are each a multi-day haul — so anything sold beyond the region has to be stable at ambient temperature before it moves.
Growing regions. Sikasso and Koutiala in the south, the Niger inland delta around Mopti
What shea kernel drying demands
Shea is collected, not farmed, which makes moisture the whole quality problem: nuts come in wet from the bush at the height of the rains and are traditionally dried on the ground. Free fatty acid rises with every day the kernel sits damp, and FFA is precisely what the butter buyer pays on. Controlled drying to 6–8 % is the difference between industrial grade and cosmetic grade.
Harvest calendar
June to September, at the height of the rains. The same difficulty as Burkina, in a country with less processing infrastructure to fall back on.
The working campaign window as the trade runs it. It shifts a fortnight either way with the rains.
Process parameters
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Drying temperature | 50–60 °C |
| Final moisture | 6–8 % |
| Yield (fresh : dried) | 3 : 1 |
| Cycle time | 12–20 h |
Sizing starting points from ordinary processing practice, not a validated recipe for your product. Confirm against your own intake and your buyer’s specification.
Worked sizing example
For a unit taking 6 tonnes of fresh product a day, at a yield of 3 : 1:
Illustrative figures calculated from the yield and campaign window above. They size a conversation; they do not describe any existing installation.
Fuel available in Mali
Cotton stalk from the Koutiala and Sikasso basin is the main resource. Rice husk from the Office du Niger is abundant but very ashy — blend it.
- Base load. Cotton stalk · Shea cake and shell · Rice husk
- Supplement. Corn cob · Groundnut shell · Sesame stalk · Dried mango peel
See all 27 fuels and their properties
Market and buyer requirements
International butter and cosmetics buyers via Bamako aggregators, grading on free fatty acid and moisture. Fair-trade and organic channels pay a premium that depends on documented handling.
Frequently asked questions
Why is drying the deciding step for shea income?
Because free fatty acid rises with every day the kernel stays damp, and FFA is the grading criterion. A lot dried promptly to 6–8 % moisture holds cosmetic grade below about 3 % FFA; one left on the ground through the rains does not, and the difference is the collector’s margin.
Is the rainy-season harvest avoidable?
No — the nuts fall when they fall, June to September, which is the wettest part of the Malian year. That is the whole argument for an enclosed chamber at 50–60 °C over 12 to 20 hours: the weather stops being a variable.
What scale suits a Malian shea aggregator?
A 6 t/day fresh intake yields around 2 tonnes of dried kernel daily at roughly 3 : 1 — about 200 to 240 tonnes across the season, which is enough volume to deal directly with an exporter rather than through a chain of intermediaries.
Size a unit in Mali
Tell us your daily fresh volume and target output, and we will size the chambers, the burner and the fuel available around your site.
Request a quote