Every week I prune a number of our 15 moringa trees. Being a fast-growing tee (over 2 m per year) it is helpful to prune it well, but there is another reason for my weekly gardening stint.
Moringa leaves contain many nutrients that many diets here lack: protein, iron, vitamin A and calcium, to name a few. The leaves can be used fresh in stews, or dried and pounded into powder to add to any stew, sauce or soup. This makes moringa leaves a very simple way to boost your diet.
At the nutrition centre, once children start eating normal food, we add moringa to their meal twice a day. The mother, too, eat moringa, as many of them are breastfeeding or slightly malnourished themselves. In this way they can experience the benefits of moringa first-hand, and may be more likely to use it at home also. And in future we hope to give each patient that goes home a tree to plant and use. In this way, we hope to reduce malnutrition by preventing it through good food.