Project Lead(s): Attah Alfred
Issue
A UN standing committee has identified malnutrition as the largest contributor to many diseases and the number one risk to health worldwide. The Egbetua community in Nigeria is home to both malnutrition and contaminated water use.
Solution
The Miracle Tree: A Holistic Approach Towards Water Safety And Good Nutrition For Egbetua Community project sought to determine the safety and efficacy of using water treated with seeds from the Moringa oleifera tree.
Moringa leaves have been used in ethnomedicine for many generations, and research has confirmed that Moringa leaves have sufficient macro- and micro-nutrients to counter malnutrition.
A key objective of the project was also to create awareness of the potential of the Moringa leaf to treat malnutrition in children and to investigate the safety of using the seed in women during pregnancy, as it is used to make water safe for drinking.
The aim was to have a Moringa tree grown adjacent to almost every house in the community. Cultivation of the Moringa tree was also seen as a potential source of income for local residents.
The project has involved a number of steps:
· Conducting a sensitization workshop in the target community
· Acquiring land for Moringa cultivation
· Creating a solar-powered borehole at the plantation site
· Cultivating more than 3,000 Moringa seedlings at the farm site
· Distributing Moringa products, seeds, seedlings and leaf powder in the community.
The safety of the Moringa seed-treated water was tested in vivo and it was determined it was necessary to separate the lipid (oil) portion from the seed to prevent cytotoxicity and genotoxicity. This has led to the development of a safe Moringa seed tablet.
Outcome
As a result of the project, every house in the community currently has at least one Moringa tree growing around the compound; the leaves are used to improve nutrition and boost breast milk production.
The potential to use Moringa leaves as a safe and locally sourced child-spacing contraceptive or abortifacient herb requires validation through surveys in communities known to have consumed Moringa leaves for many years.
This work would be supported by an ethically approved human uterine tissue strip experiment, to be conducted at the Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Liverpool, UK, in the laboratory of global experts in human uterine muscle physiology.
It is anticipated that work will also be undertaken to standardize Moringa leaf powder for formulation into an anti-fertility supplement, as well as a tea (in teabags).
It is hoped the necessary $10,000 US grant to conduct the survey of Moringa-eating communities will be funded by the Centre for Drug Discovery, Development and Production (CDDDP), University of Ibadan, under the support of the Tertiary Education Fund.
The formulation and standardization of the Moringa seed tablets will cost around $30,000 US and the Nigerian Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has requested a proposal to consider partial funding.
No funding source has yet been determined for work at the University of Liverpool. A production site (small factory) to process Moringa seeds and leaves will cost more than $250,000 US and CDDDP is motivated to provide an adequately acceptable site within the university community.