An Overview Of Our Solution
Our project is about organic farming of 60 ha of Moringa Oleifera in an area listed by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund as biodiversity hotspot in Mauritius. It will create 12 direct and 20 indirect employment for communities in first 3 years. Moringa is an easy multipurpose plant for agribusiness and poverty mitigation. It contributes to mitigate climate change and grows fast. Our project rehabilitate degraded land, produce nutritional and pharmaceutical products, compost, pesticides, and organic honey. This project integrates biodiversity and ecosystem services in mosaic rural areas. This principle is described by CIRAD, which advocates to stop looking at nature conservation as a separate scientific area, different from agriculture or forestry. Conventional agriculture has modified ecosystems causing considerable often irreversible loss of biodiversity.
Who is this solution impacting?
Community Type
Suburban
Rural
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: Africa
General Information
Organization type
Nirlaba
Ecosystem (select all that apply)
Forests
Population impacted
200 community members
Challenge
Size of agricultural area
60 ha in the first 3 years
Production quantity
Our production of Moringa oil is estimated at 15,000 liters in the first year, with growth of 50% and 100% in the second and third year.
People employed
12 employees
Solution
Describe your solution
Moringa seeds contain 30-40% oil, with 13% saturate fats and 82% unsaturated fatty acids. Like olive oil, moringa oil contains 1-2% of beneficial essential fatty acids: omega 3 and omega 6. Creating sustainable incomes in forests reduces anthropogenic pressure and speculation on forest resources. Preserving and setting up agro-forests makes it possible to reconcile protection of concentrated areas with endemicity and the need for a community to secure adequate and sustainable incomes. We plan to: erect a moringa plantation on cleared sugarcane land adjoining the endemic forest and promote its contributions to ecosystem services; support local people in community activities for the unique forest biodiversity conservation, adaptation to climate change and the creation of sustainable micro enterprises; plant Moringa on 44 ha for its leaves, to be harvested after 6 months. These will be dried and dehydrated to obtain a powder intended for multiple nutritional and pharmaceutical usage and production of organic pesticides; plant Moringa on 16 ha for its seeds, to be harvested after 9 to 12 months and used for oil production. Production waste, called "oilcake" to be converted into extremely rich compost to be used to enrich the soil and for sale by micro-entrepreneurs. In parallel, production of moringa honey, another activity that will be entrusted to micro-entrepreneurs. Bees are also well known for their capacity to restore ecosystem services.
Implementation
Describe your implementation
Specific activities: Set up 60 ha organic Moringa in lieu of sugar cane plantation; Rebuild nutrients level in depleted soil and set up agroecology farming techniques to get organic certification. FORENA is a member of IFOAM and is already the holder of an international organic certification from Eco Cert for other cultivations on the island; Establish a unit for processing oil from Moringa seeds, powder from leaves, and Moringa honey; Train 20 young people (identified among vulnerable groups) to composting from Moringa cakes and other green waste from the nearby forest protected areas; Train 30 young people (identified among the vulnerable communities) to preparation of pesticides from leaves, and organic fertilizers from mooring oil; Set up 40 hives with support from beekeepers of the region; Train 20 beekeepers (identified among the vulnerable communities); Provide honey production space in the processing plant for beekeepers; Organize and manage marketing of organic moringa oil, powder, honey, pesticides and compost; Provide organic pesticides and fertilizers to small farmers of the region. The commercialization of these products will generate sustainable revenues for local communities. All activities listed above are income-generating and will not only provide self-financing but will support sustainable livelihoods. Moringa grows in adverse conditions. The area chosen is perfectly suited. Support from CIEL Group is an enabling condition. It is an innovative partnership between an NGO, farmers, communities and the private sector. Market for Organic Morigna products is thriving locally and internationally. This is considered key success factor. Obstacles foreseen are directly connected with lack of labour, climate change impacts and lack of start-up funds. To mitigate these obstacles we have established contacts with local communities to bring much needed employment and dynamism in the region. We plan to extend Moringa cultivation by 40 ha after 3 years.
External connections
FORENA was approached to set up this agro-forestry project given our know-how in management of project for conservation of endemic plants in partnership with National Parks and Conservation Services and private sector; as well as our experience in organizing, monitoring and accompanying local planters in organic agriculture, including their certification by Eco Cert in partnership with the GEF Small Grants Programme implemented by UNDP, the Ministry of Agro-industry and NGOs since 2009. We have showcased through many projects our entrepreneurial and social commitment to carry economically viable and ecologically
sustainable projects for and with vulnerable communities. As a strategic stakeholder, CIEL Group owns Ferney Vallée. As part of its commitment towards sustaining community development, this private holding plans to make available to us an initial area of 60 ha, and part of an old sugar factory for development of our Moringa agro-forestry project. Another strategic partner is Ministry of Agro-Industry which has requested our expertise on organically certified crop production in the context of an FAO funded project on “Support for the development of organic farming and institutional capacity building in Mauritius (TCP/MAR/3502)”. Our innovative agro-forestry project has high potential for replication in the country. It will pave the way towards win-win agro-forestry and biodiversity conservation projects by re-building the soil nutrition level to face climate change.
Results
What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?
Our project targets 60 ha of land in biodiversity hotspot within Valley of Ferney. This area hosts unique highly endangered endemic species. Sugarcane cultivation, deer breeding, tourism development and fragmentation reinforced the threat of invasive species. This area potential expansion of UNDP GEF ‘Protected Area Network’ project. CIEL Group, a private company, owns the land, is considering an ecological development. Sugarcane fields adjacent to the endemic forest are granted to NGOs and private actors for agroforestry and conservation. Our project combines microenterpreneurship and conservation of adjacent native forest biodiversity through ecosystem services. It is line with the advocacy by FAO and CIRAD aiming for hybrid solutions: field trees, agroforestry, domesticated forest. It aligns with Strategic Planning of Ministry of Agroindustry aiming to unlock, modernise and facilitate emergence of SMEs in biofarming industry. Restored ecosystem services benefits flora and fauna.
Describe the context in which you are operating
We propose to recreate ecosystem services that sugar cane fields bordering the protected areas of the Ferney Vallée cannot provide. These cane lands are subjected to degradation of soil biodiversity with use of chemicals. Our project is part of an ecological development plan by CIEL Group. 106 ha is reserved for agriculture, 60 ha for our organic project. 117 hectares for reforestation where we also intend to provide expertise. Communities from this poor region will be involved as partners of development. Vulnerabilities come sea-level rise, loss of fertile coastal lands, low level of employment and economic development. More employment will be created through our innovative agroforestry project. Planters will be able to use organic inputs. Youth and women from vulnerable groups in the region will be trained in microenterpreneurship. Beekeepers will engage in organic honey production. New economic dynamism will result from this innovative project in a harboring a biodiversity hotspot.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
Cultivation of Moringa will enrich the soil. Beehives will increase pollination potential giving an additional value added product, moringa honey. The plant is not endemic to Mauritius but does not represent any threat of being an invasive species. It is in many backyards across the island, known as food for the poor. Pressure will be removed from the adjacent native forest. Ecosystem services will boost conservation of native forest biodiversity. Given that we will be organic, contrary to exisiting sugarcane fields, there will be substantial decrease in use of chemicals in the region which will have a positive impact on local biodiversity. Our organic project is a direct and innovative link to farming for nature. Moringa has a direct impact on health, nutrition, agriculture, water, sanitation, biodiversity and environment. It responds to the following criteria: environmental and financial sustainability, realism and results, innovation, biodiversity, education and awareness.
Water
Moringa does not need much water. Ferney is the appropriate place for its cultivation. Water will be sourced from a borehole. As the cultivation is organic, no negative impact will result on water bodies. Compost will be applied. Sugarcane requires lots of chemicals.Our project will contribute to stop usage of chemicals on 60-100 ha, will contribute to decrease water pollution. Mauritius used 55,000 tons of chemicals and 2000 tons of pesticides in 2015 mostly on sugarcane fields and crops.
Food Security/Nutrition
Moringa oleifera tree is an outstanding source of nutrition. It is an important source of Vitamins & Minerals. Aid programs in Africa train local population to grow it against malnutrition, for children and breastfeeding mothers. Our project will produce moringa powder and oil for cooking purposes as well as for pharmaceutics. After 3 years products such as cereal/energy bars would be produced as well as other innovative products with various nutritional and commercial purposes.
Economic/Sustainable Development
Our project will directly employ 12 people from the community. It is expected that at least 50 other people will benefit from concurrent training and marketing to develop their own micro-businesses. This will bring dynamism in the region and will add to efforts of CIEL Group policy in its ecological development around the biodiversity hotspot of the Bambous Moutains. This project is in line with the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Agro-Industry for the Non-Sugar Sector in Mauritius.
Climate
The Moringa tree plays a very important role in mitigating climate change and enriching the soil. A Japanese study (Villafuerte, and Villafurte-Abonal, 2009) found that “the rate of absorption or assimilation of CO2 dioxide by moringa tree is 20 times higher than that of general vegetation. It will be a useful tool in the prevention of global warming. The study says that, if we expanded moringa from 100000 ha worldwide to one million ha, that would equate to 5 gigatonnes CO2 being sequestered".
Sustainability
Our project relies on government subsidies in the first instance and in a matter of 3 years on market-based revenue.It is based on a viable business model that can be self-financing in the long term, without necessarily being funded by government grants. Our main product, Moringa oil, is a product with high added value, in demand in the local and international market and whose sale will generate enough income to self-finance the project in a the medium-term. The project, because of its entrepreneurial character, just needs to be accompanied financially at the start to benefit from a leverage that will help us to make our organic products references a niche market. Communities will be empowered and will gain employment and revenue.
Return on investment
The project requires a total investment of USD 432,967 (MUR 15 478 300) for its implementation. The estimate of
revenues shows that the activity can reach very quickly the break-even point of the first year. With a return on
investment approaching 60% by the end of the second year. In the fourth year we plan to expand the range of our
products by integrating other high value-added products with almost zero investment spending.
Replication and Scale
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
Given its low-cost maintenance and high resistance to adverse climate, organic Moringa agro-forestry is highly replicable at local and international level. Organic production of moringa, respectful of international environmental standards is relatively new. It has excellent market value compared to non-organic ones. Since 2016 we operate a training center on Organic Farming delivering free or at cost training to CSOs. The Center received initial grant of USD 5,000 from International Monetary Fund. 60 people were trained in 2016. We plan to increase the training sessions in 2017 and raise awareness on our Moringa agro-forestry project for the protection of native biodiversity and sustainable income generation while promoting the move from “ecosystem services-depleting agriculture” to afro-ecology. FORENA will pay an annual lease fee for the land. Water, electricity and infrastructure is made available by CIEL Group in an old sugar cane factory. Fund is needed for initial investment.