The moringa tree can play an important role in mitigating climate change and increasing the incomes of poor farmers in Africa, but its development needs to be carefully implemented.

An article on the Aotearoa Independent Media Centre website outlines how 70 per cent of the world’s food supply now comes from just three grains - corn, wheat and rice – mostly grown in monocultures, and cropping accounts for 14 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. There is an urgent need to implement climate-smart policies that can build more resilient food systems and combat climate change.

Moringa (Moringa oleifera) is a multipurpose tree that is well adapted to most of sub-Saharan Africa where the world’s worst rates of malnutrition and AIDS are found.

Oil from the seeds of the tree can contain 1 to 2 per cent of beneficial essential fatty acids such as omega 3 and omega 6. The oil can be used for cooking as well as a lubricant in fine machinery and fuel lamps and in the manufacture of soaps, perfume and hair care products. Fresh moringa leaves can be cooked and eaten as vegetables or processed into tea, powder and other pharmaceutical preparations. High in antioxidants, the tea made from moringa has been used to combat malnutrition in many parts of the world. The seeds and seed cake are an effective primary coagulant in water treatment as they have the capacity to remove up to 99% of bacteria from water.

The moringa tree offers new opportunities in agroforestry for smallholder farmers but its future development will need strong policies, research and market development strategies. Policies must consider the vulnerable, poor, rural communities where it is produced.

The ability of the tree to mitigate the effects of climate change is also impressive. A Japanese study has shown that the rate of absorption of carbon dioxide by the moringa tree is twenty times higher than that of general vegetation.

There is great potential for the moringa tree to not only store carbon, if it is grown on a much larger scale, but to improve the livelihoods of many farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.

Read the full story: Moringa as a Climate Change Mitigation Strategy?