The National Postcode Lottery in the Netherlands, a lottery program that donates 50 percent of its proceeds to charities, announced yesterday a nearly €1.3 million three-year grant to The Hunger Project, to scale up its successful Moringa nutrition program in Benin to Uganda, Ethiopia and Malawi.
Moringa is a tropical tree whose leaves are packed with more vitamins and minerals than most foods we know. The tree is extremely rich in protein, vitamins A, B and C and other minerals that are key to combatting malnutrition.
“The Hunger Project developed a strategy, together with farmers and local volunteers, of knowing, planting and eating,” Pascal Djohossou, Country Director of The Hunger Project in Benin explained. Through the program, communities are mobilized to create nurseries to grow Moringa and factories to produce Moringa powder. The Hunger Project and its volunteer leaders also educate communities about the benefits of this power food and train them how to cook with it. These trainings are part of a larger program to educate people about proper health and nutrition for pregnant and nursing mothers and young children. By breaking the cycle of malnutrition at the start, healthy mothers deliver healthy babies who can grow into healthy, productive adults
