In Burkina, We Tear Off The Moringa, Elixir Of All Evils!
“It is easier to find the diseases that moringa does not treat than to find those that it treats! Ironically Larlé Naaba, traditional chief in Burkina Faso, in an interview with Anadolu.
In this country, moringa, a plant of Indian origin, has been very popular for several years for the medicinal properties attributed to it. The Belwet group, founded by Larlé Naaba, has been exploiting this miraculous tree since 2010.
Moringa is especially popular for treating diabetes, blood pressure and malnutrition. “It also treats malaria, old wounds, malnutrition and also slows the progression of AIDS. It can reduce the lack of lactation of women, when women have no milk, they put moringa in their porridge and it stimulates their lactation. It is also recognized that it acts on sexual asthenia”, develops the promoter of this plant.
The exploitation of moringa is very profitable and this from the first year as explained by Le Larlé Naaba "The demand is strong and it is very profitable since the kilo of moringa seeds for the seed is sold at 18,000 FCFA (approximately 30 USD) and in seeds to make oil it is sold 12,000 FCFA (about 20 USD) per kilo”
“What interests us in moringa are the leaves and the seeds. For the leaves, we collect the fresh leaves, we dry them in the shade so that they retain their nutritional interests and then we grind them into a powder to put them on the market”, explains to Anadolu, Mahamadi Siemde, director technique of the Belwet factory.
As for the seeds, they are pressed to extract the oil. It takes 5 to 6 kilos of seeds to make 1L of oil. This oil is sold between 60,000 and 125,000 FCFA (between 103 and 215 USD) depending on the period. The promoter of moringa explains that this oil is very popular "This high-value oil is used not only for human consumption but also in aeronautics, it is used for the landing gear of planes", confirms Siemde.
Nearly a dozen products made from moringa are marketed by the Belwet group, these products are intended for both therapeutic and cosmetic use. The range of food-based therapeutic products ranges from moringa pepper powder to cosmetic products pure moringa oil and soaps produced from this plant claim to "regenerate skin cells" and have "a anti-wrinkle and rejuvenating power”.
"Among all these products, the best-selling product is first of all moringa powder, which sells a lot because of its therapeutic aspect since it is a powder that treats several diseases, people generally get it to treat blood pressure, diabetes and ulcers. Then there is the “sweet skin” soap and moringa oil much loved by both women and men,” explains Mrs. Zoromé, sales manager at Belwet.
According to the American journal "Phototherapy research", moringa has an impressive bouquet of medical uses, and a high nutritional value. Different parts of the plant contain a large number of minerals and are an important source of proteins, vitamins, beta-carotene, amino acids (..)"
Regarding funding, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency TIKA participated in the realization of this project to the tune of 65 million CFA (about 111,000 USD) "I decided to turn to this country because Turkey wants to support Africa through promising projects that create money or help people in difficulty and moringa is a plant that can help all human sensibilities” explains the promoter.
“TIKA followed us throughout the process,” he explains. This funding was first used to buy pots, seeds and soil to make the first hundred thousand plants. It also made it possible to train those who had to plant the plants and to buy a moringa oil press. In this agreement, it was expected that the promoter would take care of the protection of the plants by fencing the field to prevent hares and other animals from coming to eat the plants. Not having the means to implement it, TIKA financed the fences enclosing the plantation. Located in the town of Dapelgo (Centre), this 46-hectare field employs a total of 106 people, mostly women.
Korkut Tufan, Turkish Ambassador to Burkina explains Turkey's general approach, in a statement to Anadolu. "We have had an opening on Africa for more than a decade, thanks to this we have been able to increase exchanges, we had 12 embassies and now we are at 39 in Africa and, African countries have also opened embassies in Turkey . In 2013, we were 3rd in the world in terms of humanitarian donations, which is 3.3 billion dollars and more than 700 million dollars of this amount was intended for Africa, which makes Turkey the third donor at the level world humanitarian organization and in relation to its GNP it is the world's leading donor".
“In this approach, Burkina Faso has its privileged place and it was our common goal that when we contribute to something it is to create something lasting, something that must continue until future generations and that will create jobs, that's our philosophy […] This moringa project was in line with our philosophy and the idea of the TIKA agency because it's something sustainable, they didn't hesitate in seeing that it was a project that could continue,” he says.
