Moringa in Ghana

On this trip to Ghana, Toni was visiting an upper school in rural Woiso where her foundation is planning to build a dormitory for girls. I was fortunate enough to be able to tag along to explore the possibility of sourcing moringa from their farm. Creating direct trade relationships for each of the ingredients we are sourcing is a very lofty goal, but it is something we are aiming to achieve in the long term.

The school we visited, Alma Mater,  is creating a fully sustainable school where virtually all food served to the children are cultivated on location, all they have to buy is rice. The entire farm is organic and attention is paid to biodynamic techniques to ensure environmental and nutritional stability of the farm and crops. Children are taught about agriculture with incredible hands on experience. It is a dream come true for us to be involved with them from a sourcing perspective as well as in a supportive role.

Establishing direct trade opportunities is a huge hurdle to overcome because the USDA needs very specific certifications from countries outside the US. In Ghana we were able to visit the processing plant where the Moringa turned from fresh leaves to dried powder. That processing plant has to be USDA certified in order for our co-packer to be able to even accept samples into their facility. It is for this reason we are prepared to be patient with our direct trade goals. Stick with us and as we grow, we will be more and more able to establish these relationships - that will provide more money to the growers we are sourcing from and enable us to support sustainable agriculture in a very direct way!