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SC. Babu
male farmers in nutrition education programmes by
extending the messages through the male extension
s t a ff. The Government of Malawi published a guideline
book on nutrition education (Government of Malawi,
1990b) to be used by the extension staff and subject
matter specialists in the rural areas. Vitamin A related
messages are included in the guidelines. A specific
manual for prevention and control of vitamin A has
also been prepared (Ayoade, 1990). However, in practice,
the male agricultural extension staff rarely use nutrition
messages in their regular extension programmes in
Malawi.
2.3. Indigenous Moringa as a solution
The Food and Nutrition Unit in the Ministry of
Agriculture recently identified nutrient-rich, Moringa
(Moringa oleifera), a local tree popularly known as
drumstick which is commonly grown in several parts
of Malawi as a potential solution to vitamin A
deficiency.A native of eastern India, Moringa is found
throughout the semi-arid tropics. It is widely grown as
a multipurpose vegetable in south Asian and south-
east Asian countries (Ramachandran, 1980) and
elsewhere. Moringa trees are also commonly grown as
live fence posts or hedges. Almost all parts of the tree
are economically useful (Briscoe, 1990). Young fruits,
leaves and flowers are cooked as vegetables in many
parts of Malawi (Williamson, 1975). However, in
places where it is consumed, its use has been restricted
to the seasons of the year when the main staple food
becomes scarce and it has remained in these areas as
one of the `crisis'or `emergency'foods.
In general, edible leaves from vegetable plants are
a rich source of beta-carotene which is a precursor for
vitamin A. Table 1 compares the nutrient content of
important plant foods commonly consumed by rural
Malawian households to Moringa. Only plant foods
which reputedly have a high content of vitamin A, as
indicated by the nutrition manuals used in Malawi, are
compared to Moringa (Ayodade, 1990). Compared to
all other leafy vegetables that are commonly used in
Malawian diets, Moringa has the highest content of
vitamin A and vitamin C. It also contains equally good
amounts of protein, phosphorous, and calcium. The
contribution of vitamin A to rural diets from Moringa
could be extremely high if consumed regularly. While
all plant foods shown in table 1 are sold in the local
markets, Moringa is available abundantly, in many
parts of Malawi, during the dry season and during
periods of food shortages in local markets. It should
however be noted that in comparing the nutrient
contents of various crops, average values are used. In
practice, these values may differ depending on the
methods of analysis, stages in which the leaves are
picked and the conditions of cultivation.
It is useful to compare the cost of nutrients from
various sources with that of Moringa to see the economic
benefits in recommending Moringa as a candidate for
nutrition intervention with indigenous plants. In order
to study the preferences and consumption of Moringa,
a field survey was conducted among 150 households
in the Salima district of Malawi (Babu, Chale, 1994).
Data on the prices of various vegetables in the local
markets were also collected. The cost comparison of
three major nutrients from different food sources is
given in table 2. The cost ratios for vitamin A show
that Moringa is the cheapest source of vitamin A of all
commonly used foods in Malawi. The cost of vitamin
A from beans is about 150 times higher than that of
Table 1. Nutrient contents of common relish foods in Malawi compared to Moringa
(1)
(per 100 g edible portion) -- Contenus
nutritionnels d'aliments communément observés au Malawi comparés au Moringa (par 100 g de partie comestible).
Nutrients
Beans
Cowpea
Turnip
Cassava
Amaranthus
Pumpkin
Moringa
(Phaseolus leaves
leaves
leaves
leaves
leaves
leaves
spp.)
(Vigna
(Brassica
(Manihot
(Amaranthus
(Cucurbita
(Moringa
unguiculata) rapa L.)
esculenta
spp.)
moschata
oleifera Lam.)
(L.) Walp.)
Crantz)
Duchesne
ex Poir.)
Energy (Kcal)
320
45
35
90
45
25
95
Protein (g)
22
4.7
2.9
7.0
4.6
4.0
6.7
Phosphorous (mg)
95
63
130
120
100
135
70
Vitamin A (i.u.)
(2)
85
389
708
1667
1278
556
3767
Vitamin C (mg)
25
56
62
310
50
80
220
Calcium (mg)
22
225
160
300
410
475
440
T
he common relish foods in Malawi are selected from a coding exercise of possible relish foods in Malawi conducted for Food Security
and Nutrition Monitoring Survey (Babu and Mthindi, 1994) in the Ministry of Agriculture.
(1)
Source for Moringa is Gopalan et al. (1981), and source for all other foods is West et al. (1985);
(2)
The
carotene from different f o o d s
have been converted to vitamin Afollowing Beiri and Mckenne (1981) for easy comparison and is measured in international units (i.u.).
Study 