Planting 15000 trees in Madagascar

International women’s day is a big deal in Madagascar. Over the years it has also been celebrated in our villages, as a welcome occasion to get together and dance. (See our website.)

When our site visit team inquired with a leader of the women’s group on how they plan to celebrate international women’s day 2018 she replied: “of course we go out with the school children and planted trees, as we have always done on this day“. (With this look, a bit, ‘Why do you ask?”)

Every year it is still wonderful and very encouraging to us, that reforestation has become their “normal” thing to do, to celebrate International Women’s Day. The best proof that an innovation has become mainstream is when it becomes “the normal thing to do”. When, in this case without a site visit by the team from the capital or encouragement from outsiders, people plant trees because this is what they always did, then a paradigm shift has taken root in the community and they own it.

All we have to do is to sit back and be happy. We know all too well that in 2005, when we started our work, nobody had reforestation on their mind to celebrate anything. We have the pictures (and hopefully a forest one day) to prove it.

For a quick visual reforestation sucess Moringa olifeira is a fast growing tres are ideal. Once established within a few months Moringa leaves and seedpods become a renewable and constantly available rich source of much needed nutrition.  

Moringa will hopefully become a ‘normal’ addition to most meals in our villages over the years. In project reports for the last year you can see quite a few photos about our sucessful moringa planting projects. Convincing people to eat (and for that purpose alone grow more) Moringa requires creative approaches, such as solar cooked noodles soup with Moringa leaves for our students. Children enjoying a meal might convince parents that it is 'worth a try' better than talks by the head teacher or paramedic.

We still plant Moringa oleifera first and foremost as a vegetable (tree). The best way to introduce a new food is by eating it, letting your taste buds be the judge (yes, many of us know the power of free food samples…)

Sharing food with others in Madagascar is a challenge due to customs and cultural traditions that elaborating goes beyond the scope off this project report. To make a long story short: you cannot just prepare a Moringa dish and take it to a meeting e.g. at the ministry of health and let everybody try this ‘new’ food. Since “learning by eating’ is complicated, we chose the next best route: a YouTube video. Madagascar is no exception, in the cities, especially decision-makers and department heads, make use of their Internet access a lot. We created this video that explains step-by-step, from three to plate, how to make a Moringa omelet that basically requires two ingredients: eggs and Moringa leaves. Both available for free, if you grow Moringa trees and raise chicken next to your house.

It is our hope that people in Madagascar, and now you as well, click on the video link and watch our four-minute video “A Moringa leaf omelette by Zahana”. Some of you might hopefully feel compelled to try it out for yourselves. It is indeed very tasty.

PS: In addition we created the Instagram account moringainhawaii that shows pictures of dishes using all parts of the moringa plant - in a real kitchen. Instagram allows a visit and a peek into possibilities for anybody around the globe.

Links:

• Cooking with Moringa on Instagram