Twenty women from the Balibo administrative post in Bobonaro municipality recently attended training sessions on the benefits of moringa at HIAM (Together we help) Health.
Director Rosaria Martins da Cruz said the objective of the training was to increase women’s understanding about the nutritious value of moringa.
She said Timor had many moringa trees, but most communities were unaware about its uses and benefits.
Moringa is a natural source of vitamin C, protein and potassium.
“Moringa leaves contain vitamin C, but [the plant] also contains high levels of protein in the powder supplement,” da Cruz said in her office in Aimutin, Dili.
She said moringa leaves, flowers, fruits, roots and bark all had important nutritional benefits.
Following the training, 10 women will be selected to mobilize the communities to harvest the moringa plant as a food supplement for their families to help maintain their nutrient intake during the rainy (hungry) season.
She added HIAM Health had already collected sufficient seeds to be distributed to communities in the Balibo administrative post.
Bobonaro municipality was selected for the pilot project due to the high rates of malnutrition in the region.
Ermera municipality also has right rates, according to the data from the 2013 Timor-Leste Food and Nutrition Survey, and is another priority area.
If the program is successful it will also be rolled out in other municipalities.
“We have a major new plan to harvest moringa plant as a food supplement for families and this can [then] be distributed to schools and clinics,” she said.
She said the program was being funded by international organizationIsle of Man (IOM).
Trainer Antonio Guterres said the two-week training course covered basic nutrition, the impacts of malnutrition and modern techniques for planting moringa.
“We teach them how to select the seeds, harvest [the plant] and how to cook it,” he said.
Participants were also taught how to bake cakes using moringa powder.
He said HIAM Health had purchased moringa seeds from communities in the Atauro administrative post and Bobonaro municipality.
