The Importance of Moringa

“Ecosystem-based Adaptation to enhance Pastoralist

Resilience by Conserving Buska Massif Mountain Forest”

Project Period: April 2014 – December 31, 2014

“Moringa Production Builds Resilience and Reduces

Agricultural Disaster Risk in South Omo Zone”

Project Period: June 2014 – December 31, 2015

“EASIER: Enhancing the Ability to Scale Initiatives

that Enable Resilience”

Project Period: January – December 31, 2016

South Omo Zone

Malnutrition: high

Food Security: 85% of Dasenech are PSNP recipients

Maternal/child mortality: high

Average rainfall: < 400 mm per annum

Environment: Arid, sandy, shrinking grazing grounds

Conflict: Escalating: between tribes and between tribes & GoE

Literacy: Adult literacy in Dasenech <1%

GoE infrastructure: Weak with poor linkage to communities

Life in

South Omo

Requires a

Fine

Balance

The land is harsh and arid

Water is scarce

The children are beautiful

The young people posture . . .

Men have little to do

And, the women work

Global Team for Local Initiatives (GTLI) mission is

to build resilience in South Omo Zone

Woreda Population Health Environment Livelihood

Hamer 39,495 25,229 2,772

Dasenech 10,918 37,257 21,930 501

BenaTsemay 10,579 12,456 - -

Nyangatom 13,159 - -

Total 21,497 102,367 47,159 3,273

Moringa: the Tree of Life

Continuous source of:

• Food

– Humans

– Animals

• Nutrition

• Medicine

• Water Purification

• Economic Opportunities

• Soil Conservation

• Fertilizer

• Biogas

Drought-resistant

Grows fast

Produces for 60-100 years and

available for continuous harvest

Water stored in roots

discharges into surrounding soil

GTLI and Moringa stenopetala

YearSeedlings

distributed

Vulnerable

HouseholdsWoreda

2014 21,140 867 Hamer

2015 22,804 1,710 Hamer

2015 56,838 3,985 Dasenech

2015 6,504 10 Producer Assn Dasenech

2016 14,000 1,402 Dasenech

Total 121,286 6,364

Moringa Stenopetala cultivation

• Naturally grows in riverine and acacia-

commiphora woodland and rocky ground

• Evergreen perennial plant that can be

productive for 60-100 years

• Grows year around and is available for

continuous harvesting, 6-12 m tall, 60 cm

diameter, smooth bark

• Likes arid & semi-arid lands free from termites

& intensive grazing, tolerates alkaline and salt-

prone

• Moisture: 250 mm/year to 1600 mm/year

• Propagated by seed or by cuttings, can be

replanted by retaining only 30 cm of lateral and

tap roots

• Vulnerable to moth (noorda blitealis) larvae

(caterpillar) and termites

• M. oleifera is better known but not as potent

Day 1: 42,000 potted seed bags

Day 90: 42,000 seedlings ready for

distribution

M. Stenopetala

locally known as Shiferaw or HalekoPhysical

characteristics

Length Weight yield/

year/ tree

Yield /

hectare /

year

Leaflets Light green,

ovate, acute

3.3 – 6.5

cm

1-5 kg 10,000 –

15,000 kg/ha

with 1 m x 1

m spacing

Flowers Sweet scent Petals up to

10 cm

Pod Creamy gray 6-9 cm 230 pods/

tree or 15-

20kg

31,000 kg /ha

with 2.5 x 2.5

m spacing

Seeds / Pod In 10 years, one tree can produce up to 4,500 – 10,000 seeds

that weight 2.3 – 5 kg from approximately 500 – 1,000 pods

Improves food security & nutrition

Fresh Leaves Dried Leaves

Vitamin A 4 x carrots 10 x carrots

Vitamin C 7 x oranges ½ x oranges

Calcium 4 x milk 17 x milk

Potassium 3 x bananas 15 x bananas

Iron ¾ x spinach 25 x spinach

Protein 2 x yogurt 9 x yogurt

Contains high amounts of essential amino acids and vitamins A & D

Believed that if consumption in Ethiopia was wide-spread, child and

maternal mortality rates could be reduced by 30-50% nationally

Leaflets can be stripped and eaten like spinach (fresh, dried, powder)

Animal fodder: Cut and carry leaves and pods

Moringa products should be 40% or less of animal fodder (protein needs to

be balanced by other energy food)

• Cattle: milk yields for dairy cows and daily

weight gains for beef cattle can increase 30%

• Breeder chickens: improve growth

performance, feed efficiency, and carcass

yield

• Sheep: improve dry matter intake, body

weight gain and nitrogen retention

Medicine: Rutin is the magic ingredient

Ailment Process Claim Study

High blood

pressure

Boil leaves and drink

as tea

Drop in systolic and

diastolic Mengistu

(2012)

Diabetes

Aqueous leaf extract

and/or butanol faction

of ethanol extract

Reduce high blood

glucose and cholesterol

levels

Toma

(2012)

Malaria,

hypertension,

stomach pain

Boil leave or chopped

roots, drink as tea

Water-borne

diseases

Methanol & n-hexane

extracts of seeds

Antimicrobial agents

against Salmonella typhii,

vibrio cholera & e-coli

Walter

(2011)

Bacterial

disease

Defatted and shelled

seeds

Antibiotic activity against

Staphylococcus aureus,

Salmonella typhi, Shigella

spp, & Candida albicans

Mekonnen

(2003)

Traditional Uses

Purpose How Where

Expel retained placenta

from women and cowsInfusion of leaves

Leprosy Infusion of leaves Turkana - Kenya

Treatment for cough

and fortifying soupChew the bark Njemps – Kenya

Difficult laborInhale smoke from

burning rootSomalia

EpilepsyInhale smoke from

burning rootKonso - Ethiopia

Expel snakes from

homesteadRoot extracts Gamo Gofa - Ethiopia

Water Purification

Seeds are natural flocculation agents with

anti-microbial properties– Whole crushed seeds remove turbidity from waters

with high initial turbidity

– Bacterial contamination can be reduced by 90-99%

– Seed powder removes heavy metals from industrial

waste water

• Chromium from tannery effluent

• Cadmium & lead from polluted water

Economic Uses and Potential Applications

• Leaflets sold for food (fresh, dried, powder)

• Oil extracted from leaflets and seeds

– Edible oil has properties similar to olive oil

– Light for illumination

– Cosmetics, perfumes and soaps

– Lubricating machinery

• Seed cake obtained after oil extraction

– Protein supplement in animal feed

– Biogas production

– Organic fertilizer

– Water purification

• Flowers increase honey production

• Bark is used to make mats and rope

• Wood is soft and makes excellent pulp

Sources

• “Guide to Use and Processing Practices” Horn of Africa Regional

Environment Centre and Network

• “The African Moringa is to change the lives of millions in Ethiopia and far

beyond” Solomon Habtemariam, Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical

Biomedicine, 2016

• “Extractability of Rutin in Herbal Tea Preparations of Moringa

stenopetala Leaves” by Solomon Habtemariam and George K.

Varghese. 2015

• “Actual and potential applications of Moringa stenopetala, Underutilized

Indigenous Vegetable of South Ethiopia: A Review,” Eyassu Seifu,

International Journal of Agricultural and Food Research, 2014

• “The Moringa Tree” by Dr. Martin L. Price, published 1985; Revised

2000 by Kristin Davis

• The Hunger Project-Ethiopia brochure

• “Trees for Life” www.treesforlife.org

GTLI Best Practices Propagate in local nursery sites

Integrate with Community-based Learning in Action

(CBLA) Healthy Children, CBLA-WASH, CBLA-

Nutrition and Integrated Functional Vocational Literacy

Build the capacity & motivation within the community

“Moringa is the perfect fish hook. When we

throw are regular fish hook in the Omo river, we

don’t always catch a fish. But with moringa, we

always catch our food. Now we are not so

hungry and our stomach pain is less”

Netsale Neguanaluk, July 2016

Thank

You