Stakeholders List Benefits Of Moringa

Harnessing the economic potential of
the ‘Moringa Olifera’ is the focus of the discussion at the first
international conference on the crop at the University of Ilorin.

Our correspondent reports that representatives of various
organisations, including the ‘Moringa’ Association, the academia, research
institutes, colleges of agriculture and the National Agricultural Research
System (NARS) are participating in the conference.

Delivering a
lecture at the conference, Prof. Yusuf Abubakar, the Executive Secretary,
Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), noted that the plant had
aroused overwhelming national and international interest.

Abubakar said: “Moringa has been described as an “all in one’
plant in terms of its nutritional attributes, and elegantly summarised as a
supermarket on a tree.

“It deserves all the attention of policy makers, researchers,
farmers, products promoters, and other players across the product value chain.

“We recommend
that it should be included amongst the value chain commodities of the
Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA),” he said.

He said that
the conference could not have been organised at a better moment than now considering
the enormous potential of Moringa in contributing to Nigeria’s food security,
wealth creation and poverty alleviation.

According to
him, Moringa is mostly found in the northern parts of the country, where it has
been in use for many centuries by rural dwellers as a salad-like meal (kwado)
or in soups (miyan zogala) and as a pot herb, until the recent discovery of its
other benefits by researchers.

He noted that
the plant, grown in home gardens or as living fences, the leaves are commonly
sold in local markets in many forms.

He explained
that recent scientific research classified ‘Moringa’ as a very versatile plant
as everything about it was useful in one way or the other, from its leaves to
its roots.

The executive
secretary said the plant was discovered to contain specific antioxidants and
health promoting ingredients that offered veritable answers to malnutrition,
hunger and diseases.

He said that
the World Health Organisation (WHO), the European Union, UNICEF and many other
organisations and NGOs, support the planting of ‘Moringa’ in Africa and other
places with a view to fighting malnutrition and deforestation.

In his
opening address, Prof. Olawale Badejo of the University of Ilorin, said the
‘Moringa’ leaves was rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, and could be
utilised to prevent malnutrition.

Similarly,
Prof. Is’haq Oloyede, the Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, said the
institution had cultivated 631 hectares with cash crops, including teak, date
palm, jatropha, cashew and citrus, adding that it had recently added ‘Moringa’
species.