Of all the trees the DNRC plants in rural Kenya, Moringa oleifera holds the most potential as a food source to address nutritional deficiencies and improve the health of our farmers and their families. Moringa can also be processed and sold in local and export markets as a source of income for the community. Help us to plant 5,000 more Moringa trees, increase the amount of Moringa our farmers consume, and increase farmer revenue from the sale of our new processed Moringa powder product.
Across Kenya, malnutrition is high: 35 percent of children under five years are stunted, 16 percent are underweight, and 7 percent are wasted. Malnutrition is especially severe in rural drylands, where frequent droughts, poor access to water and sanitation, infections such as cholera, HIV, and malaria, and poor maternal nutrition characterize most people's lives. In the rural communities DNRC serves, families are poor and disconnected from services and fast-growing urban markets.
Growing, processing, and packaging Moringa powder within a cooperative structure is one of the best opportunities available to our 400 farmers to improve their health and provide a steady source of income. Moringa is highly nutritious and is a much-needed supplement to their diets. In addition, the DNRC can coordinate farmers' efforts to produce Moringa powder at scale, and then package, market, and sell it in Nairobi and elsewhere. Profits are returned to the farmers who supplied the moringa.
In the long-term, at least 400 families (2,400 people) should see a 25-50% increase in annual income, lower rates of malnutrition, and lower incidence of disease. Children should also see benefits in school.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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