Moringa is referred to as the “miracle tree” and the indigenous name for it translates to “Tree of Paradise”. It is indigenous to Burkina Faso and has multi purposes:

• It grows quickly and does particularly well in poor soils, even barren ground with soil pH between 4.5 and 9.0
• Moringa is drought-resistant
• Much of the plant is edible by both people and livestock
• The leaves are highly nutritious and contain all the essential amino acids, rare for plant matter; leaves are rich in protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin C, and minerals
  • Defatted meal contains 40% more protein than soybeans
  • Feeding high protein leaves to cattle has shown to increase weight gain by up to 32% and milk production by up to 65%
• Moringa seeds also contain 30-50% oil, or 112-185 gal/acre/year.
  • The edible vegetable oil is beneficial to humans, suitable for making biofuel, and is also a common ingredient in cosmetics.
  • The oil contains 65-75% oleic acids
• Defatted seed meal is also a flocculent: it purifies water by settling our sediments and undesirable organisms
• Its bark is used as traditional medicine and is sold to local pharmacies as a cash crop
• It provides an excellent source of shade

BARKA’s Development Action Plan include a Moringa re-forestation project, utilizing biochar to enhance growth and production. Through the process of silviculture (sustainable forestry controls the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values of the stakeholders such as landowners, societies and cultures) Moringa combats poverty and malnutrition. Reference: For published studies and footnotes see Wikipedia: Moringa For more about Moringa, go to Moringa News

Find out more about:

• Irrigation
• Biochar
• Sapindus