Not a Silver Bullet

The movement to plant moringa trees spread in the decade after Trees for Life published its moringa book, taking root in more and more places. It is estimated during that time that more than 200 million trees were planted. It is certain the number is in the millions. 

One story is illustrative of what took place: 

A well-known politician from Latin America visited me in my office. His party had lost the last election in his country, and he had busied himself with social work. He came to ask me to help his country.

When I made a trip there a few years later, he hosted a private lunch for some of the country’s most prominent people. During my talk, I told them about the magical moringa tree.

I had no idea that those who were enjoying elegant fare under my friend’s gazebo made up the shadow government. Within days of my talk, they formed a new government and declared the moringa their national tree.

About a year later, they sought my advice on their plan for the government to plant a very large number of moringa trees. Immediately, I left to meet with the Minister in charge. He was eager to hear what I had to say. I told him much work needed to be done before such a planting could take place. I requested a meeting with some of their core decision-makers on the subject. The Deputy Minister of Agriculture convened a meeting with 28 of their top scientists from various disciplines—horticulturists, academicians, and planners.

Their plan called for immediately planting 2.2 million acres of moringa trees on marginal lands in an effort to fight malnutrition. We spent a couple of days in long meetings. They came to realize they did not know which moringa variety was best suited for their agro-climatic conditions. And since their people were unaware of moringa or its uses, there was no existing demand for the product. 

Finally, the group concluded it did not have the necessary conditions to undertake such a massive planting. This came as a disappointment to the Minister in charge, because he was a man of action and was ready to go.

The government’s desire to plant a huge number of trees was no substitute for a mass movement created by people’s awareness.

“Moringa is not a silver bullet,” I told them. “Go slow. Make sure it is done the right way.”

Fidel Castro, in the last decade of his life, dedicated himself to promoting moringa. He appeared regularly on television exhorting people on the benefits of the moringa tree. 

When we shared the moringa booklet with world leaders in 2005, we knew there was high quality protein in moringa leaves, but we didn’t have the research to show exactly how much protein. In 2015, Trees for Life provided the seed money to start a genetic bank organized by Dr. Mark Olson, a British scientist settled in Mexico. Collaborating with Dr. Jed Fahey of Johns Hopkins University, they were able to analyze a collection of 13 moringa species from around the world. They demonstrated that moringa leaves across the board contain 25%-30% protein, an astounding figure, putting moringa on par with eggs and meat.

The moringa revolution is beyond imagination. In less than a decade, a hundred lifetimes of work took place. It is an example of what all my mentors were trying to teach me: As individuals, we feel we are helpless, caught in circumstances and political systems, when, in fact, we have immense power within us waiting to be unleashed.