Baraka's Shipping Cardboard Feeds My Orchard
From Ghana to Duncan: How Baraka's Shipping Cardboard Feeds My Orchard
I grew up on a farm in small-town Saskatchewan. Gardens, animals, dirt under your fingernails — that was just life. Then I spent 40 years working around the world and in Ghana building Baraka and doing sustainability consulting, and somewhere in there I lost access to land. Apartments, guesthouses, compound houses. No garden. No space.
Baraka sources shea butter, baobab oil, kombo butter, and cocoa butter directly through the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana's Upper West Region — cooperatives we have worked with for over 15 years. Every shipment travels from Ghana to our warehouse in Duncan, BC in heavy corrugated cardboard boxes."
Last year I moved back to Duncan, BC. Two acres. And I have gone completely overboard.
I've put in 150 feet of raised beds — four feet wide, running throughout he property. Fruit and berry trees are going in: apples, pears, figs, kiwi, cherry, Saskatoon, haskap, gooseberry, blueberry. Raspberries from my dad's patch in Saskatchewan. An herb garden. It's a lot. My neighbours think I've lost my mind. They're probably right.
Today I spent the afternoon doing something that's been on my list since the trees went in — mulching them properly for the season. Cardboard down first, tight against the ground, overlapping at the edges. Then a shovel of fresh horse manure from the farmer down the road. Then old hay on top to hold it all in place.
The Cardboard Is Baraka's
Every shipment of shea butter, baobab oil, kombo butter and cocoa butter that travels from Ghana to our warehouse arrives in a container stuffed with heavy corrugated boxes. The boxes that aren't in good enough shape to reuse for customer orders — and there are always some — used to just go to recycling. Now they go to feed my soil and my neighbours too.
It's not a grand sustainability programme. It's just the obvious thing to do. The cardboard smothers weeds without chemicals, breaks down over the season and feeds the soil, and gives the earthworms something to work with underneath. The trees get a slow feed from the manure above and a weed-free start below. By next spring most of it will have disappeared into the soil.
Free Cardboard in the Cowichan Valley
I'm also putting a free listing on Facebook Marketplace — if anyone in the Cowichan Valley wants heavy corrugated cardboard for their own garden, come and get it. We go through a lot of boxes. Better in someone's garden than in a recycling bin.
This isn't really a Baraka story. It's just what happened on a weekend in March on a two-acre property in Duncan with a trailer of horse manure and a pile of boxes from Ghana. But it felt worth writing down. The cardboard that carried shea butter across an ocean is now feeding apple trees in British Columbia. There's something right about that.
It is a win, win, win story, the way environmental and social responsibility should be done, not as a zero sum trade-off. I've actually spent decades training, consulting and teaching on this through the CSR ESG Training Institute. It felt good to practice what I preached - and it will feel good to literally eat the fruits of my labour!
If you want to read more about where those boxes come from and the women who fill them, Baraka's Social and Environmental Impact Report is a good place to start.
Why Cardboard Works Better Than Plastic or Landscape Fabric
Cardboard mulch, plastic sheeting, and landscape fabric all suppress weeds, but they work differently and leave different things behind. Plastic and landscape fabric block weeds effectively in the short term, but they do not decompose — they have to be removed, and they can degrade into microplastics or synthetic fibres in the soil over time. Cardboard suppresses weeds for one growing season, then breaks down completely into organic matter that earthworms and soil microbes can use. By the following spring, it is gone and the soil underneath is looser and more active than it was before. For an orchard where the goal is long-term soil health, not just weed suppression, cardboard is the better choice. For a vegetable bed that needs a more permanent barrier, landscape fabric may be more practical.
Why This Matters
None of this happens without the people who choose to buy from a supply chain like this one. Every purchase makes an impact — a direct connection between someone choosing Baraka and the women and communities who make these ingredients possible. When you choose Baraka, the boxes that carried your shea butter across an ocean end up feeding apple trees in Duncan instead of a recycling bin. Thank you for being part of that.
To read more about the cooperative relationships and the women behind Baraka's ingredients, Baraka's Social and Environmental Impact Report is the place to start.
If you want to read more about the cooperative and the women whose work makes this supply chain possible, read Fair Trade Shea Butter: The Konjeihi Story.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Baraka's shea butter different from commercially sourced shea butter?
Baraka sources all shea butter directly through the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana's Upper West Region — a cooperative relationship maintained for over 15 years. The shea butter is hand-processed using traditional water-based methods with zero chemical extraction, achieving approximately 30% yield compared to 45% for factory processing. The lower yield means no chemical shortcuts and more of the naturally occurring compounds preserved. Complete chain-of-custody documentation is available for every batch.
What happens to Baraka's shipping boxes after ingredients arrive from Ghana?
Boxes in good condition are reused for customer orders. Boxes that aren't suitable for reuse are now diverted to Wayne's orchard in Duncan, BC, where they are used as cardboard mulch to suppress weeds and build soil health around fruit and berry trees — rather than going to recycling. It is a small loop, but a deliberate one — keeping material in use as long as possible before it eventually breaks down into the soil.
What is sheet mulching with cardboard?
Sheet mulching is a no-dig gardening technique where cardboard is laid directly on the ground around plants. It blocks light to suppress weeds without chemicals, retains moisture, and breaks down over time to feed the soil. It is commonly used in permaculture and regenerative growing practices. Unlike plastic sheeting or landscape fabric, cardboard disappears into the soil within one season, leaving behind organic matter that earthworms and soil microbes can use.
What ingredients does Baraka ship from Ghana?
Baraka ships shea butter, baobab oil, kombo butter, and cocoa butter from Ghana to British Columbia. These ingredients are sourced directly from women's cooperatives in Ghana's Upper West Region and travel in heavy corrugated cardboard boxes. Every batch is hand-processed using traditional water-based methods with zero chemical extraction. Complete chain-of-custody documentation is available for any order.
Is the free cardboard offer still available?
Wayne listed heavy corrugated cardboard on Facebook Marketplace for free pickup in the Cowichan Valley, BC. The boxes come from Baraka's ingredient shipments from Ghana — corrugated cardboard that carried shea butter and baobab oil across an ocean. Check the Facebook Marketplace listing directly for current availability, as stock varies with incoming shipments.
Where can I learn more about where Baraka's ingredients come from?
Baraka's Social and Environmental Impact Report covers the sourcing, women's cooperatives, and supply chain practices behind every ingredient Baraka sells. It documents the cooperative relationship with the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana's Upper West Region, the traditional hand-processing methods used, and the fair-trade premium that goes directly to the women producers. It is the most complete account of where Baraka's ingredients come from and how they are made.
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