Carbon offsetting with Moringa trees

Project overview

Moringa oleifera is an incredibly useful, yet underused tree, which grows throughout tropical and subtropical climates.  The Moringa tree can be grown in even the harshest and driest of soils, where barely anything else will grow. As a result it is an effective means to rehabilitate unusable land.  The Moringa tree is also edible and highly nutritious - Moringa leaf powder is receiving increasing attention worldwide thanks to its high levels of protein and other regenerative nutrients. In addition, the plant is very effective at absorbing harmful carbon dioxide and combating global warming.

During a seven year research project conducted by Suzanne Enoh-Arthur with Prof. Patrick Van Damme (Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at the University of Ghent, Belgium) local farmers in the villages of Pokuase-Amanfro, Mmampenia, Dobro, Tafi Abuife and Logba planted Moringa trees. This helped boost the income and health of the local communities, as well as having a positive global impact by helping to offset green house gas emission. 

By burning massive quantities of coal and oil we are continually increasing the carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism suggests the need for collaboration between developed and developing countries to stabilise atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions.

VPWA's aim is to develop a sustainable production chain for Moringa oleifera by offering farmers and rural farm organisations in Ghana incentives to develop this crop.

We are looking for volunteers to participate in this environmental project.

How the project will work

• • We want to establish a reputable tree nursery to supply affordable and reliable seedlings. This nursery will subsidise tree crop production at local, national and regional levels, using zero tillage, solar power generation and other green technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate carbon absorption.

  • We want to help farmers to regenerate degraded sand, stone and mineral mining lands in rural locations, as well as other sites, and use them to grow this crop. The sites will be designed in an alley formation so that they can include other food crops of the farmer's choice. 

  • We want to quantify emissions reduced or absorbed from rehabilitated lands into tradable carbon credits in conformance with the monitoring standards of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), Greenhouse Gas Protocol, International Organization for Standardization (ISO14064).

  • We want to use the programme to engage a broad range of community, corporate and government groups and will promote participation from individual volunteers, households and communities.

  • We will develop and deliver training on microfinance and turning the growing and processing of Moringa leaves into a business. We will use the Manual on Moringa oleifera Leaf Production and Processing to enhance skills and encourage environmental and health awareness. This will be done in partnership with other organisations who have a share our belief in the benefits of the Moringa oleifera tree.

Learn more about Green Ghana Volunteers - www.greenghanavolunteers.org