The Moringa Project

“The hardest thing to see is what is in

front of your eyes”

Goethe

Extremely high

concentration of

vitamins, minerals,

amino acids and

proteins

The most nutritious plant

on the planet

The principle component

in a proposed farming

ecosystem that will

generate sustainable

benefits and profit

Contents

Detail Pages

Executive Summary 3

Introduction 4

Benefits 5-7

Scientific Research 8

Project Roadmap 9-11

Illustrative Funding Requirements and Revenue

12

Next Steps 13

Appendix 14-17

Executive Summary

We are a social enterprise on a mission is to replace AK47s with trees in Somalia and other African countries. How? By enabling smallholders to tackle malnutrition and water purification, and to overcome poverty by creating sustainable communities with the profits generated by moringa tree plantations.

Whilst our motivation is altruistic, this proposed enterprise and resulting plantations represents a significant commercial opportunity. We believe the moringa tree is the raw material in a farming, production and distribution ecosystem that can generate significant profits for our investors and far reaching benefits for the population and environment of target countries.

Details of the required illustrative investment costs and projected revenue are shown below:

Our intention is that a practicable amount of the profit from exports should be reinvested in local needs, such as more sophisticated equipment for the processing of moringa products on a larger scale, education, training and healthcare. This will drive a sustainable business model and desired ongoing supply chain of moringa to buyers.

Costs

Phase Setup Operating Production Revenue Resultant

Year 1 $152,000 $762,000 $375,000 $197,500 $1,091,500

Year 2 $1,497,000 $1,500,000 $2,850,000 $6,000,000 $153,000

Year 3-5 $61,000,000 $50,000,000 $59,500,000 $1,435,000,000 $1,264,500,000

Introduction

• Known as ‘the Miracle Tree’, moringa oleifera (the most effective of 13 species) is the most nutritious

plant on the planet; its leaves alone could save millions of lives. Gram for gram, these tiny leaves

contain:

What is the moringa tree?

4 x the vitamin

A of carrots

4 x the calcium of

milk

Vitamins B1, B2 and B3

7 x the vitamin

C of oranges

3 x the potassium

of bananas

2 x the protein of

yoghurts

Chromium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium,

protein and zinc

All of the essential amino acids, the building blocks of protein

The leaves can be eaten fresh, used in cooking, or dried naturally and ground to powder

for local markets and global export. Only the vitamin C content is diminished during the

drying process; the other nutritional benefits are increased

Moringa powder, only recently discovered by the West, is growing rapidly in popularity

throughout the world as a food supplement

BenefitsMoringa-based products provide medical, environmental and humanitarian benefits:

Medical

It is used to treat more than 44 medical

conditions including:

Anaemia

Anxiety

Asthma

Blood impurities

Blood pressure

Cholera

Colitis

Diabetes

Diarrhoea

Dropsy

Fever

Glandular

swelling

Gonorrhoea

Headaches

Intestinal worms

Jaundice

Malaria

Joint pain

Psoriasis

Scurvy

Semen deficiency

Skin infections

Sores

Sprains

Stomach ulcers

Tumours

Urinary disorders

Wounds

Originally used in Indian medicine some 5,000 years ago before spreading to other tropical

and subtropical areas, the moringa tree grows in Africa, Latin America, South America,

India, Indonesia, and many island nations. In other words, it grows exactly where it is

needed the most: in the countries with the highest rates of poverty and malnutrition.

BenefitsMoringa-based products provide medical, humanitarian and environmental benefits:

Humanitarian

Every single part of moringa oleifera can be used for beneficial purposes, including human

health, livestock fodder, crop growth enhancer, insecticide and fungicide, and ‘green

energy’ biogas production. The trees are used for alley cropping, erosion control and

shade; the leaves and pods provide the nutrition, while the leaves, flowers, pods, roots,

seeds, gum and bark are used for medicinal purposes.

Moringa trees will help African farmers, local economies and

food stocks via:

A crop with a diverse range of benefits, both economic and

environmental

A crop responsive to fertilisation with high regularity of

harvest

Providing a fertiliser that benefits the yield and production

of other farming crops

Providing an alternative to biogas from other crops, with

higher yield

Providing an economic and sustainable cattle feed;

resulting in increased milk production

BenefitsMoringa-based products provide medical, humanitarian and environmental benefits:

Environmental

These products remove the costly dependency on expensive fertilisers, as well as the

deployment of environmentally harmful pesticides that affect long-term soil health and

present risk to human populations through infection of the subsurface water table

Moringa trees are used for:

Alley cropping

Erosion control

Shade

Livestock fodder

Seeds are used for:

Water

purification

Oil production

Crop growth

enhancer*

Insecticide*

Fungicide*

Moringa products are used

for:

Scientific Research

Scientist Nikolaus Foidl is one of the world’s foremost experts on the agricultural and industrial uses of the moringa tree, which he has been researching in Nicaragua since the early ‘90s. Although technically it can be grown with no irrigation, small amounts of fertiliser, and harvested every 75 days, Nikolaus found that by using irrigation and larger amounts of fertiliser to grow moringa intensively as a field crop he was able to harvest every 35 days, with a total yield of 650 to 700 tons of green matter per year (a consistent result from the same plants for seven consecutive years).

Nikolaus and Dr Nadir Reyes Sanchez, a scientist on the faculty of the Department of Animal Nutrition and Management at the Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences, have both experimented with using moringa leaves and shoots as a supplement in livestock fodder: the result was an increase in daily weight gain of up to 32 per cent and in milk production from cows of up to 65 per cent

Used as a crop growth spray for soybeans, sugarcane, corn, turnips, black beans, red beans, white beans, cow peas, bell peppers, chia, sunflowers, mung beans, onions, coffee, tea, chili peppers, melons and sorghum, moringa was found to accelerate the growth of young plants, make them more resistant to pests and disease, and produce larger and more fruit, with an increase in yield of up to 24 per cent

Given these results, why would anyone planning to plant crops in Africa not wish to invest in the cultivation of moringa simultaneously? And why would anyone go to the expense and trouble of importing chemicals at a time when the major world markets are looking for more organic produce?

Meanwhile, if cultivated for green energy, Nikolaus estimates that more than 4,400 cubic meters of methane can be produced per hectare of moringa per year: twice as much as can be produced from sugar beet leaves, a common plant material for biogas

Simple and easily implemented cultivation of the moringa tree can have an almost immediate beneficial effect on local communities in Somalia and other African countries, but with additional support and effective training, moringa plantations can multiply quite rapidly. Nikolaus Foidl has agreed to travel to Somalia to provide the knowledge and skills to farm the tree effectively and continue with his research

Project Roadmap

Year 1 of the project is based on financial investment to cover setup costs and to build

the foundation for the business on sites in Africa as well as supplier agreements; some

exports

Year 2 onwards will show an increasing return on investment via growing exports, with

this ramping to a significant level by Year 5

20 hectares

Introduce intensive moringa growing

to local populous for leaf, seed and oil

production

Introduce drip Irrigation system and

supply equipment

Teach

Pay farm owners to farm moringa and

process by hand and powder grinder.

Distribute and educate populous in

moringa benefits

Sell surplus seeds, leaves and oil to

export market

300 hectares.

Construct and secure processing

plant in the field

Export

33,000 Hectares (5.5km x 5.5 km)

Construct facility

Biogas production

Export

Project Roadmap

Phase 1 – Year 1

Establish head office (initially an adapted shipping container) in the secure compound at Mogadishu Airport, Somalia, with Martin Beale as Operations Director. Martin is a former member of UK Special Forces with extensive experience in war zones including Iraq and Afghanistan. He has been living in Mogadishu for the last six years, having initially relocated to be Head of Security at Mogadishu Airport, and has a network of contacts throughout Somalia as well as a reputation for achieving results. Without Martin, any plans to establish moringa and/or other plantations in Somalia would currently be highly unlikely to succeed.

Martin is supported by UK-based co-directors Corinne Simcock and Nick Foster. Corinne is an editorial consultant; a former national newspaper journalist, author of Lonely Planet travel guides and humanitarian activist with substantial experience in developing countries such as Libya and Egypt. Nick Foster is a project manager with more than 30 years of experience managing workers in the construction industry.

Introduce Afgoye-based smallholders to the benefits of growing moringa for leaf, seed and oil production. Establish the first study centre in Afgoye (fertile land within an hour’s drive of Mogadishu): prepare well-drained, sandy, loamy soil; install drip irrigation systems; supply appropriate protection from the elements and equipment for drying and processing leaves; train smallholders; and pay them to farm moringa. This will require the involvement of one moringa expert and ten local facilitators.

We already have access to 55 hectares, but on the advice of Nikolaus Foidl we only need 20 hectares to prove we can tackle: malnutrition; water purification; medicinal use; crop growth enhancer; organic insecticide and fungicide; livestock fodder; biogas; alley cropping; oil production; and exporting surplus seeds, leaves and oil internationally for commercial use in food supplements, cosmetics and other beauty products once local needs have been met. Reinvesting the majority of the profit in local needs will ensure continued commitment and motivation.

Project Roadmap

Phase 2 – Year 2

Moringa grown intensively for leaf and seed production. Word by now will have spread, and we anticipate

increasing numbers of smallholders wanting to get involved. Equipment for processing oil from seeds now

provided on site and, following training, used to increase profit from sale of oil rather than seeds.

Phase 3 – Year 2 to Year 5

Large scale intensive ‘green energy’ biogas production begins in earnest, with fully mechanised farming techniques

and the construction of roads for transportation purposes. A million moringa seeds are planted per hectare over an

area of 33,000 hectares (5.5km x 5.5km), producing 20,000 litres of biogas per hectare per year.

Illustrative Funding Requirements and Revenue

Setup Costs

$170,000

Operating Costs

$762,000

Production Costs

$375,000

Revenue

$500,000

Resultant

$807,000

Setup Costs

$1,497,000.00

Operating Costs

$1,500,000.00

Production Costs

$5,700,000.00

Revenue

$15,000,000.00

Resultant

$6,303,000.00

Setup Costs

$61,000,000.00

Operating Costs

$50,000,000.00

Production Costs

$59,500,000.00

Revenue

$1,435,000,000.00

Resultant

$1,264,500,000.00

Next Steps

Detailed analysis of projected costs into more

granular cost model

Agreement on minimum levels of investment required

per phase vs reinvestment from operating revenue to

offset annual investment costs

Detailed discussion on scientific basis/provenance

The Moringa Project

Appendix

Moringa Product Detail

CROP ENHANCER FERTILISER

Fresh leaves with 80% ethanol. Press extraction 20g tender leaves, 675ml of 80% ethanol mixed with

water, sprayed on leaves

PRESS CAKE

60% protein

Flour used as a coagulant for water purification and filtering oils, juices, beers etc

(Water for 10,000 in a town of inhabitants, 960kg seed flour per day = 105 hectares, 1,100 trees per

hectare. Flour is concentrated to 20% mass

Human and animal consumption; further treatment; continuous extraction and re-crystallisation of

polypeptides for human consumption

OIL – COLD PRESSED

Cooking, cosmetics, machine lubricant

PODS AND FLOWERS

Can be eaten raw or blanched

Moringa Product Detail

RESIN FROM TRUNK

Thickening sauces

ROOTS

Hot sauced cooked in vinegar

PROCESSING CENTRE

Leaf processing; located next to the growing area; leaf washers, dryers, grinders

Seed processing, yr1; Located in Mogadishu

Dehullers, cold pressing

Temperature and humidity controlled environment

Baggers, packers, bottling plant

BIOGAS. Phase 3. Large scale intensive

33,000 hectares (5.5km x 5.5 km)

Machine soil preparation, seeding, maintenance and harvesting.

Head facility in the field.

Road infrastructure construction.

References

Source Title

Smallholder Farmer’s Alliance, Haiti (2015) Moringa: Export Market Potential for Smallholder Farmers in Haiti

Oxfam (2013) Farmer’s Field Guide on Moringa Production

Foidl, Nikolaus Methane from Moringa Oleifera for the European Natural Gas Pipelines

Foidl, Nikolaus Production and Utilization of Moringa Oleifera

Agbota, Steve, Nigeria Today article (16 Oct 2016) Farmers Can Make Millions from Moringa Farming

Pasternak, Dov Agricultural Prosperity in Dry Africa