Chelsea Clinton in Haiti last week with two women farmers, Mercillie Romeus (left) and Marie Dorcelus (right), who are leaders in introducing moringa trees (such as the sapling they are holding) as a new export crop there. Photo credit: Sebastian Petion / Smallholder Farmers Alliance
Kuli Kuli is thrilled to announce our new partnership with the Clinton Foundation and a Haitian nonprofit, the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) to support smallholder women farmers in Haiti.
Who would have thought the leaves of one very ordinary looking tree would hold the secret for addressing three critical issues in Haiti: improving nutrition, empowering women and expanding agricultural export.
The leaves of the fast-growing moringa tree, which grows throughout Haiti, contain 9 essential amino acids, 27 vitamins and 46 antioxidants, making it one of the most nutrient dense plants on earth. Just one tablespoon of dried moringa leaf powder is the equivalent of a full serving of vegetables plus a multivitamin combined, making it a valuable tool for improving nutrition. The moringa tree thrives with minimum water and nutrients, growing from seed to 13 feet in one year. And it can’t be cut to produce charcoal because it turns to powder when burned, an important self-preservation feature in a country that depends on trees for 75 percent of its total energy consumption.
Kuli Kuli is working with the Clinton Foundation and a Haitian nonprofit, the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA), to introduce Haitian moringa to the North American market. While moringa will continue to be grown for domestic use in Haiti, the long-term goal is to capture a portion of the expanding international moringa market on behalf of the country’s smallholder farmers. Just as Kuli Kuli worked closely with Fair Harvest to develop a moringa supply chain in Ghana to support women farmers there, Kuli Kuli is excited to build a second moringa supply chain in Haiti through this new partnership.
A second partner in this venture is renowned chef José Andrés and his non-profit organization, World Central Kitchen. They are helping to both introduce moringa into the American palate and to advise on its application to improving nutrition in Haiti and other developing nations. World Central Kitchen is currently collaborating with Kuli Kuli to promote a nationwide moringa recipe competition on Instagram, using the hashtag #MoringaInspired to raise awareness and support SFA’s work in Haiti.
Chelsea Clinton and Donna Shalala, the new president of the Clinton Foundation, were in Haiti last week to meet with local partners that promote economic growth and development, the empowerment of girls and women and support for small businesses.
Hey, Ted .Thanks for sharing. At Journey, we had 14 rgetsier for the Walk for Water. We also hosted our first annual Taste of Journey event, a crock pot cook-off dubbed A Crock for the Walk where we received donations for Haiti Water Project. This was a cooperative effort between my team (the Connected Team) and our Poured Out Team following a Sunday a.m. gathering. I would estimate we have also raised around $600 between the two events.