Moringa (moringa oleifera) is a fast-growing, drought-tolerant “superfood” tree whose leaves, harvestable in just 4 months, are 30% high-quality protein and rich in essential vitamins and minerals.
It can be grown on even degraded land by smallholder farmers using biodiverse perennial agriculture systems (agro-ecology) that include climate-resilient African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs) and other multipurpose trees and crops. Moringa will be a keystone economic and ecological species in a new regenerative value chain that increases rural income, nutritional security, community health, and soil organic matter (SOM).
GreenWorld-Kenya has grown moringa and other species for over ten years. It has now formed a consortium to scale up a new public-private “regenerative industry” based on moringa and other superfood crops, with Rutgers University, government institutions, scientific and development agencies, philanthropies and impact investors. Moringa leaves will be processed into powder as a nutritional amendment for local food staples as well as for export, melding the power of a “big food” supply chain with smallholder eco-agriculture, We will use innovative food science to improve the nutritional value and flavor-notes of the plant materials. Ancillary products like moringa seed oil, animal fodder, nutraceuticals, and plant protein will finance the restoration of large areas of land to ecologically balanced productivity.
Kenya will be the launching pad for a Moringa Moonshot across the African continent, revitalizing hundreds of millions of hectares of land, increasing local prosperity and food security, “drawing down” atmospheric CO2 into restored soil and vegetation to mitigate climate change.
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