Moringa for nutrition security and women s empowerment: Lessons from a pilot project at Balibo in Bobonaro, Timor-Leste

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1 Moringa for nutrition security and women s empowerment: Lessons from a pilot project at Balibo in Bobonaro, Timor-Leste Abstract Romualdo Amaral, Domingos Aguino Brandao & Miguel dos Santos 162 This paper reports on a pilot program conducted in Balibo sub-district of Bobanaro municipality of Timor-Leste that aimed to grow moringa (the so-called miracle tree ) for improved nutrition security. It presents the findings of two surveys conducted in 2017 to monitor progress and improve program design. The program hoped to be able to demonstrate the nutritional benefit of the introduction of moringa to daily diets in the participating households. However supply did not sufficiently meet demand to facilitate effective storage throughout the year, and thefore did not enable households to consume moringa daily during the study period. Limited supply was mainly due to a lack of water for irrigation, but the problem was confounded by high demand resulting from purposeful education about the benefits of moringa. Introduction This program was implemented by HIAM Health, a Timorese non-government organisation (NGO). HIAM s programs have evolved from a focus on nutrition and health education, to more holistic integration of those issues with an approach termed Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture (NSA). The particular NSA intervention reported in this paper aimed to introduce a super-food' plant, called moringa, to daily diets to improve nutrition security of the participating households. The program was particularly designed to alieviate malnutrition suffered during the hungry season, as frequently occurs between December and March/April when waterlogged soil impedes growth of new season crops, and stored food supplies have dwindled. The notable value of moringa leaf as a nutrition supplement is that it can be dried and stored without refrigeration, retaining nutritional quality for up to six months. It can therefore be produced during the optimal growing season, and easily stored for consumption during the hungry months. HIAM field workers have observed that many farmers focus on profit from sale of produce rather than crop diversity to meet family nutrition needs. Farmers also do not forward plan to produce crops for sustainable yields and consumption throughout the year. Better planning in this regard would improve nutrition and decrease the reliance on emergency relief. HIAM has responded to the challenge of long-term nutrition security by promoting moringa (the miracle tree ) as one part of the solution. Moringa (Moringa oleifera, or marungi in Tetun) is a tree that is found widely in Timor-Leste. It is drought resistant, grows in poor soil and requires little maintenance. The leaves are highly nutritious containing protein, vitamins and minerals at higher levels than other locally available vegetables and fruits. The leaves can be harvested every 40 days, and can be eaten All authors work for the HIAM Health in Dili, Timor-Leste. Romualdo Amaral is the Agriculture Program Manager, Domingos Aguino Brandao is the Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Trainer and Miguel dos Santos is the Nutrition Manager.HIAM Health is a Timorese non-government organisation (NGO) founded in 2003 with a mission to reduce childhood malnutrition in Timor-Leste. The name HIAM comes from a Tetun acronym meaning together we help each other. HIAM Health specialises in designing and implementing nutrition-sensitive agriculture in Timor-Leste. Projects are designed to promote nutrition-security, improve household nutrition, and empower women in remote communities. 359

2 fresh or easily preserved to be added to traditional cooking. Cultivation and pharmacology of moringa have been widely studied (Leone 2015, ). In 2016, HIAM commenced a pilot program to teach women in Balibo to grow moringa intensively at home and preserve the leaf for nutrition security. Balibo was selected for the pilot due to high levels of malnutrition, and because the remoteness of many villages meant that few other NSA interventions were operating in that region. HIAM developed a training curriculum that taught best-practice methods for all aspects of horticultural production of moringa, preservation of the moringa leaf, and cooking with moringa (fresh and dried) for family nutrition. Initial two-week residential training was provided to ten women Community Mobilisers (CMs) who HIAM selected as candidates based on interviews held for ten different villages (one CM selected per village). Following initial training, the CMs returned to their villages to each recruit a further 10 women Household Representatives (HRs), who then completed one week of residential training (also attended by their CM, who HIAM mentored on leadership skills while the CM repeated training with her recruited HRs). The ten HR s and their respective CM were known as a Group. Ten Groups in total participated in the program. Training was not completely prescriptive, and Groups were given opportunity to plan their prefered implementation model for establishing moringa gardens in their village. Some elected to work as individuals in their own home gardens, some elected to work as informal collectives (helping each other with tasks, but maintaining separate gardens), and some elected to construct group gardens (where multiple HR s worked together at a single site). Regardless of Group structure, the CM was supported by HIAM to provide leadership to the HRs in each village. HIAM developed the knowledge and leadership capacity of CMs through monthly face-to-face training, weekly phone calls, several on-site visits, and a refresher training course and study tour. As this was a pilot program, HIAM conducted a survey part-way through the NSA intervention to review the program methodology and allow changes to be made to the improve program delivery if needed. A second survey was conducted one year after initial training to determine the success of the program, and whether the format of the program would be continued or changed in the future. Research methods The first survey was conducted in February/March 2017, towards the end of the wet season, thereby allowing program participants six months (following completion of residential training) to implement their own moringa gardens in their villages. HIAM Health was particularly interested in the success (or otherwise) of the group gardens that had been planned and established by women in some Groups. HIAM aimed to assess the performance of the women chosen as CMs, and also evaluate how household behaviour had changed as a result of training from HIAM. Findings would enable HIAM to modify delivery of the program if required to enhance outcomes. Information was gathered on site by observation of household gardens and group gardens, and by interview of CMs and HRs. While every effort was made to interview all program participants, it was not always possible to coordinate a suitable interview day or time. A total of 71 women HRs were interviewed, many with participation from their husband and/or other family member who supported garden activities. Of the 112 originally trained, 32 had not continued for various reasons, but also new participants had joined, bringing the total number of participants to around 130. The second survey was conducted in September 2017, approximately one year after the original particiapants completed their initial residential training. This time 92 HRs were visited. From the 130 participants active at the time of the first survey, 11 HRs had since exited the program. 81 active gardens were inspected and

3 HRs were interviewed. Results from the second survey provide an update to the presentation given at the Timor-Leste Studies Association Conference held in June Findings Findings of the first survey Lack of water was the most serious problem encountered by the 71 women. 55% reported no water in the dry season, 9% reported that lack of water was always a problem, and around 5% said that water was either too far away, or there was not enough to share, or there was lack of storage facilities. In spite of the frequency of problems accessing water, the HIAM team observed only a few limited attempts to harvest rainwater. When questioned, households generally reported that rainwater collection was difficult due to lack of access to suitable storage vessels. The team asked the women how difficult they found different activities related to growing moringa. To varying degrees women found four of the activities relatively easy: to plant and grow (99% said it was easy), to harvest (80%), to maintain their gardens (76%), to dry and preserve (73%). However up to half of the women found it difficult to build beds, prepare compost and access water. In follow up discussions, women indicated that these activities were more difficult because they required heavy lifting. Questions were asked about family support. The women reported that 64% of husbands gave support, 55% of children gave support, and more than 15% of other family members gave support. Given what is known about the demands of farmers time, this result exceeded expectations. It may be unreasonable to expect families to give more support to women because of other commitments. That such high numbers of husbands are active in the gardens, elect to attend visits from HIAM staff, and ask questions of HIAM staff, suggests that men support the women s moringa activities, even though training was limited to women only. Questions regarding Community Mobilisers (CMs) performance received very high scores. The questions were about how often the CM visited each household, whether the CM assisted with garden activities and associated problems, and how well the CM motivated others. Seven of the ten CMs received scores of over 84%. Results for the lower scoring CMs were still over 52%. Reasons for the lower scores were: a) too great a distance to the households (resulting in infrequent visits from the CM), and b) younger CM s lacking sufficient experience to be effective leaders and motivate Group members. In response to the challenge of distance, the affected CM identified willing participants in households that she could more readily access, and in this way, replaced Group members who chose to exit the program due to infrequent contact from the CM. HIAM staff worked more closely with the younger CM s to improve leadership ability. Survey questions relating to changes in attitude and behaviour showed that 99% of HRs said they were proud to show their moringa gardens to other people. Follow up conversations suggested that while most people were happy for others to see their gardens, not many (7% at most) said they could be role models for their community or had more information to share. One reason for this may be shyness or humility. One major challenge identified was the confusion between using moringa as a fresh food verses a dried nutrition supplement. The survey showed that 95% of households consume moringa as fresh leaf, while 84% consume the dried leaf, and only 25% consumed it as a powder (suitable for feeding to infants). This means that most householders do not save moringa for consumption in the hungry months, because they have too great a need to consume it directly as a fresh vegetable. As such, the aim of the program, nutrition security from December to March, has not been achieved. HRs reported that while it was easier to grow moringa following the wet season (due to availability of water), it was more difficult to dry the leaf during the wet season, because high humidity slowed the drying process and 361

4 increased the likelihood of mould (that renders the product unfit for consumption). This challenge (along with immediate hunger) therefore tempted many households to simply consume the moringa as a fresh leaf vegetable, rather than preserve dried leaf. However, several women produced very high quality dry leaf throughout the wet season by frequently turning the drying leaf to maximise ventilation. Thus the training method is effective, but it requires commitment from participants as frequent turning of the leaf can be time consuming in humid conditions. As an outcome of this finding, HIAM has begun investigating additional methods of improving the drying process, such as solar drying. HIAM observed that in the driest situations, the moringa plants were able to remain alive, but was unable to produce leaf without adequate supply of water. HRs also reported that moringa grew slowly (or not at all) during the dry season (depending on water access), and in scarce water situations it was very difficult (or impossible) to afford the water required to wash the moringa leaf before drying (as is recommended for hygiene purposes). HIAM aims to address this barrier by emphasising more water capture, storage and saving techniques in its teaching curriculum. Survey questions also asked about forward planning. Only 66% of householders said they planned ahead. Many said that they thought about things the night before they did them rather than prepare plans days or weeks ahead. HRs did not consider that more detailed planning was necessary, but observation by HIAM staff revealed improper and/or incomplete implementation of numerous steps from training. HIAM therefore developed tools for CMs to better facilitate the CMs to guide planning with HRs and ensure that all steps were completed for success of the program. Although all CMs were literate (a requirement for candidature), it took several iterations with the planning tool for CMs to be confident in its use. Findings from the second survey Only one of the ten Groups who commenced the program was not motivated to complete. In the remaining nine Groups, 399 garden beds were built (compared to a target of 405). 376 of these beds were of high quality, and 80% of HRs had met their target of building five new beds. More than 60% of these garden beds were constructed and maintained correctly following the process outlined in the HIAM curriculum. This is a notable success. In particular the survey team assessed planting density, harvest method, harvest time, knowledge retention from training, and record keeping (dates of planting and harvest). Most vital practices were being followed for garden maintenance all HRs were sufficiently weeding and replanting seeds (to replace perished plant), and 86% of HRs loosened their soil to encourage root growth and water infiltration. However, less than 40% of HRs were using moringa juice as a foliar fertiliser or the natural pesticide developed by HIAM. When asked for reasons, HRs said they didn t have sufficient spare moringa leaf in the dry season to allocate to fertiliser. During the second survey (at one year following initial training, and following multiple site visits from HIAM staff) HIAM determined that, in general, composting was not successful. Although 75% of HRs had built compost bins, only 16% had good quality compost. Noting the second survey was conducted towards the end of the dry season, examination of compost by the HIAM team showed that most was too dry, meaning that the necessary microbial action of the compost was not optimal. HRs were advised to cover compost to retain water, and the curriculum will be reviewed to emphasise the importance of water retention for successful composting. HIAM observed that particpants had invested significant effort in protecting moringa gardens. The second survey recorded that 99% of gardens were protected by bamboo/wood fences which were effective at keeping out large animals. However only 18% of these were living fences. This is important because living fences do not need to be replaced frequently, and moringa can be used in the living fences as well as for harvest. Hungry animals can be persistent, and in one instance, a solid stone wall reinforced by a 362

5 wooden fence could not prevent a buffalo from destroying the moringa beds. Roaming livestock remain a constant threat to nutrition gardens. In response to questions about frequency and volume of watering of moringa gardens, HR answers varied between twice a day, twice a week, and not at all during the dry season. Watering practice was largely determined by access to water. The HIAM curriculum had encouraged some water saving practices, such as mulching of garden beds, recycling of cooking water to the garden, or using bamboo or plastic bottles inverted into the soil to slowly release water directly to plant roots. These techniques were not widely or effectively used. Only 30% of HRs were using sufficient mulch and 17% of HRs had none or nearly no mulch. Some HRs began mulching, but chickens undid their efforts because fences prevented only larger animals from accessing the gardens. The HIAM team observed that if training placed more emphasis on the role of mulch in water saving, HRs may be more motivated to apply mulch at sufficient rates. One of the limitations in mulching was the difficulty in collecting resources, and provision of tools such as wheelbarrows could ease this burden. All HRs reported that they were happy to consume moringa when it was available. Many households enjoyed consuming moringa tea and had replaced coffee consumption with moringa tea. Some who had been successful in production of dry leaf powder mixed the powder with their breakfast porridge, thereby greatly improving the nutritional value of a meal traditionally made only from white rice, water and salt. Conclusion The main findings are that this pilot program served its purpose well in highlighting the successes of the approach and in identifying constraints. However, the program overall did not meet its main objective of storing dried moringa leaf or powder for the hungry months. Successes included construction of quality garden beds following the best-practice methods taught by HIAM for growing moringa, protection of garden beds, weeding and replacement. HRs were unable to achieve HIAM s aim of the desired level of nutrition security for the hungry months because sufficient moringa was not grown or retained to enable HRs to process and store it for later consumption. The lack of supply of moringa was largely due to limited water, and was confounded by high levels of demand, whereby extended family members often requested wide distribution of the moringa grown by HRs. It was hoped to be able to demonstrate the nutritional benefit of moringa in daily diets of the families of participating HRs. But so far supply has not met demand to enable effective storage throughout the year or to enable all household members to consume it daily. However, women are very happy to incorporate moringa into family diets, and willingly prepare moringa foods on a daily basis when supply permits. Compared to the first survey, the second survey revealed a higher percentage of HRs that would be happy for visitors to observe their gardens, suggesting that after a year of participation in the program, women felt more confident in their garden practices. A final survey has been planned for early 2018 to re-assess nutrition status at least with those HRs who had water all year. This will show if there has been any improvement in overall health status as a result of the program. Anecdotally people told the HIAM team that they felt better and experienced fewer aches and pains, and had more energy. The team plans to reassess understandings of the relationship between food and nutrition and gardens and the farmers need for income. Following the final evaluation the program, funding for this specific NSA intervention will end. The conclusion at this point is that the main objective of achieving nutrition security was not met due to a variety of factors outside the control of the program, notably lack of water for irrigation. However the findings from this program reported here will inform a follow-up program. The key objectives of the next program will include increasing production, linking 363

growers to local markets, and supporting local producers to sell moringa to HIAM to process for wider

Bibliography Leone, Alessandro et al 2015, Cultivation, Genetic, Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry and

International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 16: 12791-12835.

6 growers to local markets, and supporting local producers to sell moringa to HIAM to process for wider distribution in Timor-Leste. Bibliography Leone, Alessandro et al 2015, Cultivation, Genetic, Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of Moringa oleifera Leaves: An Overview. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 16: Photos Photo 1: Martinha has water available all year and managed to produce both dried and powdered moringa even at the end of the dry season. Photo 2: Fidelia had no water in the dry season. You can see the fences she made to keep the chickens out. There was not enough moringa to provide nutrition security in the dry season. 364

7 Photo 3: At Atara here is the water situation. There are two taps, one for 500 households on one side of the village and one for 90 households on the other side. There are often disputes about water. This water comes from a government well and tank on top of the mountain. 365

Case Study. Irrigated and integrated agro production systems help Mozambique adapt to climate change. SDGs addressed CHAPTERS.

Case Study. Irrigated and integrated agro production systems help Mozambique adapt to climate change. SDGs addressed CHAPTERS. Case Study Irrigated and integrated agro production systems help Mozambique adapt to climate change MAPUTO SDGs addressed This case study was prepared based on the joint programme, Mozambique: environment