A study launched today entitled “Moringa: Export Market Potential for Smallholder Farmers in Haiti” is a virtual handbook for everyone from farmers to exporters to government officials interested in ensuring this “miracle tree” becomes a new agricultural export for the country.
Undertaken by the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) with the support of the Embassy of the Netherlands in the Dominican Republic, the study follows the lead set by the Government of Haiti when they launched a national moringa awareness campaign in 2013.
As Josh Schonwald noted in a recent TIME article, “moringa might be the fastest growing valuable plant in the world.” He went on to say that, “Because it’s drought-resistant, the moringa can grow freakishly fast in precisely the hot, dry subtropical areas where malnutrition is most prevalent, and where other crops wither.”
This is the year that the moringa tree will make its full debut as a superfood on the international scene. The smallholder farmers of Haiti, where it is also known as benzoliv, are getting ready to garner a portion of this new global market and at the same time contribute to reforestation efforts.
Hugh Locke
President, Smallholder Farmers Alliance