World Vision promotes Moringa to combat malnutrition

Moringa, a fast-growing, drought-resistant plant that has been cultivated in countries such as India, Mexico and Mauritius, could help reduce malnutrition in Mauritania, an international NGO said. World Vision, which has included the promotion of Moringa in its three-pronged National Agricultural Program (NAP), said it strongly believes that the plant can help malnutrition in Mauritania. "Definitely Moringa is a sustainable solution [to malnutrition] in Mauritania," Beth Doerr, NAP Coordinator for Mauritania who has worked as an agricultural consultant developing Moringa as a nutritional supplement in many countries, told IRIN. "Moringa Oleifera" commonly called Moringa, is a slender perennial tree that is rich in nutrients and vitamins such as vitamin A and C, calcium, magnesium, and iron. In countries where the plant is cultivated, the leaves are pounded into a powder and added to meals. In Mauritania, the powder can be added to millet, sorghum and other grain-based dishes. World Vision's is promoting its cultivation. Earlier this year, World Vision carried out tests involving 50 pregnant women of whom half were given Moringa powder and the rest iron tablets. The study also involved 50 infants, half of whom received the powder and the others nothing, and 10 malnourished children who all received powder. Five months later, according to World Vision, the women and children who used the powder showed a drop in rates of aneamia rate and gained weight, while the 10 children were healthier in terms of height-weight ratio. But the NGO is not distributing the powder in its food programmes due to a lack of scientific data. "World Vision is not using Moringa in feeding programs but is teaching women farmers how to grow the trees, prepare and use its by-products as nutritional supplements to improve their children’s health," Doerr said. In addition to human consumption, the plant’s thick roots can be substituted for horse radish while the leaves and branches can be used to feed livestock. The foliage can also be eaten in salads while seeds yield a non-drying oil known as Ben oil. In India and Mauritius, it has been used for years and is sold as an over-the-counter tablet that reportedly improves health. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has also said that whereas Moringa is a food supplement that adds vitamins and diversifies the diet, more scientific studies need to be done to assess its perceived impact on malnutrition. It said it could not distribute the food supplement within its food supplies, but was contemplating the production of nutrition education materials on the plant. "There is as yet no conclusive scientific unperpinning that would allow WFP to proceed with the distribution of [Moringa] powder in its regular food distribution," WFP said in a note sent to IRIN. Mauritania is classified by WFP as a food-deficit country where an estimated 36 percent of children under five years old, suffer from malnutrition.