Fruit trees for Uganda

by Grassroots Uganda- Empowering African Women
Fruit trees for Uganda
Fruit trees for Uganda
Fruit trees for Uganda
Fruit trees for Uganda
Fruit trees for Uganda
Fruit trees for Uganda
Fruit trees for Uganda
Fruit trees for Uganda
Fruit trees for Uganda
Fruit trees for Uganda

Project Report | Jul 13, 2017
Amazing Moringa

By Lee Koelzer | Director

When I first came to Uganda back in 2006, I was visiting Rwo-Tek Women's association in Gan-Diang, a village in Kitgum. They showed me around, introduced me to people in the village, told me stories about their lives, and at one point a lady pointed to a tree and said "Those leave are what we eat when we are starving." WHAT?!?!?!?!? Of course I prodded her for more information and basically she said that Kitgum is often very hot and dry. Everything dries up and food is extremely scarce- bordering on famine. She said when this happens, one of the few things readily available to eat are the leaves from that tree as no matter how dry or hot it is, the tree is always growing well. The ladies had other stories about surviving the dry season as well- such as catching mice/rats then hanging them on sticks in the sun to dry out and become mouse-jerky; and learning how to kill wild birds- but for this report we are focusin on the tree. It wasn't until years later that I learned the english name for the tree- Moringa.

While not necessarily a fruit, Moringa is an amazing tree and nearly the entire tree is edible! Moringa is able to grow in tropical and even dry arid places making it extremely versatile. The leavs of the tree taste like a mix between leaf lettuce, arugula, and kale. I often sprinkle them on salads and mix them into stir fried. They are bursting with nutrition- fiber, iron, other vitamins. The flowers are sweet and can be eaten off the tree or mixed into salads, though personally I prefer to leave them for the bees. 

The flowers turn into long bean pods. When picked young and tender the pods are chopped up and cooked a lot like okra (though less slimey.) When the seeds are mature and dried they can be roasted similar to peanuts, or eaten raw. But be careful as these buggers are a natural laxative! Base- Chairperson of the MUMYO Women's Group in Naggalama lives with her elderly mother who- as many people do- gets a bit stuffed up. Base's mom carries a handful of moringa seeds wrapped in a small cloth with her so if she needs to, she can nibble a few and get things moving!

The roots of the morninga tree are spicy- similar to horseradish. I'm sure you can munch on the wood and bark as well, though I never have.

As an added bonus, these trees are part of the legume family so they have nitrogen fixing bacteria on their roots which aids other plants. The small leaves alow light to filter through, helping protect crops planted underneath  from the harsh African sun without hurting them with too much shade. Also, the morninga tree grows extremely fast so if a farmer plants 365 trees around her property, after they mature she can cut down one tree per day as it will provide enough firewood for her to cook 3 meals per day for her family. A new tree grows from the stump of the old one, so after a year when she comes back around to cutting that tree again- it will already be grown back to its mature size! This is awesome as it helps cut back on the charcoal and firewood industry combating deforestation and aiding in sustainability.

We are pround to say that Moringa is one of the trees we distribute throught the villages of Uganda. We beleive that every home should have at least one. Or maybe 365...

Links:

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.

Sign up for updates

Organization Information

Grassroots Uganda- Empowering African Women

Location: Mukono - Uganda
Website:
Facebook: Facebook Page
Grassroots Uganda- Empowering African Women
Lee Koelzer
Project Leader:
Lee Koelzer
Mukono , Mukono Uganda

Funded Project!

Combined with other sources of funding, this project raised enough money to fund the outlined activities and is no longer accepting donations.
   

Still want to help?

Find another project in Uganda or in Climate Action that needs your help.
Find a Project

Learn more about GlobalGiving

Teenage Science Students
Vetting +
Due Diligence

Snorkeler
Our
Impact

Woman Holding a Gift Card
Give
Gift Cards

Young Girl with a Bicycle
GlobalGiving
Guarantee

Get incredible stories, promotions, and matching offers in your inbox

WARNING: Javascript is currently disabled or is not available in your browser. GlobalGiving makes extensive use of Javascript and will not function properly with Javascript disabled. Please enable Javascript and refresh this page.