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Walking to her woodland in the outskirts of Blantyre has become a routine now.
Malita Chiwere is one of the beneficiaries of the so-called "miracle tree," the Moringa Oleifera.
I can testify that my grandchildren are no longer getting sick regularly.
We eat the leaves as relish and we also sell. All is well with my family.
The seeds can be used to purify water.
And, because the Moringa grows quickly in tropical areas and resists drought,
it has the potential to help people in areas where food is scarce.
We are encouraging communities as a department right now.
We are going out issuing even seeds for them to plant and use the leaves and the pods,
so that they can boost the immunity in their bodies.
We have gone even to schools trying to tell school pupils to plant and actually use Moringa Oleifera
because it is a wonderful and a miracle tree.
It is also a source of money.
Moringa leaf power sells for U.S.$25 a pound on the Internet as an herbal supplement.
Seeds are being used in cosmetics and beauty supplies.
The most successful farmers make more than U.S.$1,200 a year,
in a country where the average per capita income is U.S.$250.
This is the Moringa garden of one of the members of the Moringa Association of Malawi.
The Moringa Association of Malawi mobilizes more farmers in the introduction of indigenous tree seeds
to be planted in their maize gardens for soil fertility.
These Moringa trees help them with their families.
Also they do help them in finding money by selling the seeds and the leaves.
Always an entrepreneur at heart, Annie Bonomali tried selling fish, beans, potatoes,
and secondhand clothes without success.
It wasn't until she suffered a stroke -- twice -- that she finally hit upon the idea that worked.
She says natural products, including Moringa leaves, helped her recover.
She obtained public training on how to use local resources like the Moringa,
and a similar plant called the Baobab.
Today, she runs Khumbo Oil Refinery.
We extract oil from these seeds. The oil is used for cosmetics.
But when we refine them, it is an edible oil.
The Moringa oil is similar to olive oil. It is nutritious and good.
At first, Bonomali says her Moringa products appealed to a rural market.
Her big break came at an international trade fair in Malawi's commercial capital, Blantyre.
There, Bonomali caught the eye of Japanese investors.
Today, she has received support from the Japanese development program, "One Village One Product."
In addition, Japan has become one of her biggest markets for jam
made from the local Baobab fruit.
Using Baobab fruit is very useful because the there is more calcium and vitamin C in it.
The Baobab pulp can be used in making juice, jam, and we can also make lotion from Baobab pulp.
How is it?
Wait a moment.
This is nice. Made from the natural ...
Baobab fruit. The tree that has been, for years, in Africa without any use.
Now, we can make money through the Baobab tree.
In 2008, Bonomali exported over 50 tons of her products.
Recently, she received an award from Japan
for her contribution to the development and promotion of natural products in Malawi and Africa.
Nationwide, about 5,000 women are on a government waitlist for training
And locally, she has helped more than 2,100 Malawian women
who follow in her footsteps.
in cultivating and marketing products made with resources in their own backyards.