Sumba is an island in Eastern Indonesia that is about 10 times the area of Singapore, but which has about only one-tenth the population of the latter. The Sumbanese are poorer than other Indonesians, and a high percentage have been infected by malaria. Infant mortality is also high. Water is scarce during the dry season and the women and children have to travel several kilometers to fetch water while the men are at work. Most of the original vegetation has now gone because of slash-burn clearing for planting of corn, cassava, and other cash crops. Past attempts to reforest the limestone hills have failed due to absence of social marketing.
A couple of weeks ago a Goducate team was in Lailara (population: 1,030), a typical village in Sumba. Farming is mainly subsistence monoculture with minimal use of chemical inputs and with characteristically low productivity. Livestock, small ruminants, and poultry are predominantly native. Bare horseback riding is the usual way of getting quickly from one place to another.
The Goducate team was in Lailara to discuss with the village chief and other leaders how we could best help the community. We agreed that the first priority is to teach the community how to grow and use Moringa to improve their nutrition and health. Moringa is a plant that provides many nutrients in its leaves, it seeds and its seedpods.
We hope to assign an agriculturally trained community development worker (CDW) to Lailara in the not-too-distant future. The village is excited about this prospect and has offered accommodation for this CDW. It also plans to identify one of the villagers who can be mentored on Moringa production, processing, and utilization.
