Bestari Jaya’s ‘Moringa’ success story

 

KUALA SELANGOR: Social activist Kumaran Nagapa is a man with a mission.

He is set to turn Bestari Jaya, formerly known as Batang Berjuntai, into a Moringa town and create opportunities for the local impoverished and socially-disadvantaged communities to generate higher incomes.

The Moringa oleifera tree, commonly known as the Moringa or drumstick tree, is a familiar sight in Bestari Jaya and its surroundings.

This fast-growing and hardy tree, which is native to India, has in recent years been getting good press, thanks to its nutrient-dense leaves and researchers touting it as a superfood.

Through trial and error, Kumaran, 40, has perfected a simple technique to produce a powdered supplement from dried Moringa leaves, which is said to be rich in antioxidants and various vitamins and beneficial for treating diabetes and hypertension.

He has created a social enterprise, which he runs with the help of single mothers and needy communities living in Bestari Jaya and its surroundings, to produce the supplements under the GoodDeeds brand name.

Social ills

It all started in 2012 when Kumaran enrolled as a student at University Selangor in Bestari Jaya with the intention of pursuing a Science degree.

However, he dropped out of university after he realised that doing social work was his true calling.

What sparked his interest in social work was the sight of poverty-stricken families who lived on the fringes of Bestari Jaya with a host of social problems such as drug abuse and alcoholism.

Almost 80 per cent of the 15,000-odd people living in and around Bestari Jaya comprises Indians.

“These people were marginalised due to the prevalence of social issues like alcoholism and drug abuse and they remained stuck in poverty,” Kumaran told Bernama.

“I also noticed that many of the children were malnourished which affected their performance in school.

“No wonder there were so many school dropouts among them.” Having noticed that Moringa trees (its leaves and fruits are used by Indians for curries and side dishes) grew abundantly in Bestari Jaya and its surroundings, Kumaran did some research on how to harness the nutritional wonders of the Moringa

leaves.

“I gave some powdered form of the dried Moringa leaves to the malnourished children here to consume and I started seeing some improvements in them,” he said, adding that he also gave the supplement to some older people who suffered from diabetes and hypertension and the results were encouraging.

That was when it dawned on him to commercialise the product and create an avenue for the economic empowerment of the local community.

The grassroots Moringa project

Thus came about the Grassroots Moringa Project which Kumaran started in 2016 and he has since then developed it into an impact-driven enterprise that has been able to provide flexible jobs to the locals, especially single mothers.

Kicking off the project in Kampung Jawa, located near Bestari Jaya, he encouraged the locals to plant Moringa trees on vacant land near their homes and sell the leaves to his enterprise for processing purposes.

Seeing the supplement’s economic potential, Kumaran registered his enterprise as a business entity and sent his product to SIRIM Bhd to have its nutritional content analysed.

A sample was also dispatched to Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Chemistry Department to test its antioxidant levels.

“The results from both tests were positive. SIRIM’s test revealed that Moringa trees grown in Bestari Jaya were among the best in Malaysia, based on the product’s high carbohydrate, energy and protein levels.

“Its antioxidant content was also found to be very high,” he said, adding that the test results encouraged him to step up his Grassroots Moringa Project and further develop the Moringa enterprise.

Moringa farms

Under the Grassroots Moringa Project, about 500 Moringa trees have been planted in housing estates around Bestari Jaya and within the town area, and even in the compound of Masjid Al-Awabin.

The trees were planted and looked after by about 20 families who are currently involved in the community project.

The participants are mainly single mothers, destitute people, wives of prisoners, senior citizens and school dropouts.

Kumaran buys the Moringa leaves from them at RM3 per kilogramme but “I’ve made it clear to them (participants) that I will buy the leaves from them on condition that they send their children to school. If their children play truant, I won’t buy it from them”.

The community project has caught the eye of the Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) and it has given Kumaran the green light to have Moringa trees planted on the banks of rivers and ponds under its jurisdiction.

About 10,000 trees are expected to be planted on riverbanks, including the bank of Sungai Darah near Kampung Hang Tuah, here.

“I want to reach out to more needy people around here and help them to generate an income,” said Kumaran, adding that about 50 families were expected to benefit from his community project before 2020.

How moringa is processed

When he first embarked on his Grassroots Moringa Project initiative, his primary motive was to give the Moringa powder to the local community in order to tackle malnutrition and improve their health and well-being.

“Now, however, it has grown beyond the scope of just giving it to the local community,” said Kumaran, whose two-storey rented house in Bestari Jaya doubles up as his ‘production’ facility.

The first floor serves as the living quarters for him, his wife and their two children while the ground floor is where the Moringa leaves are processed. The Moringa leaves are best harvested between 9.30am and 10.30am because that is the time when their nutrient content is high and moisture content low.

The low moisture content is essential as it speeds up the drying process and reduces the risk of fungal attacks.

The leaves have to be removed from their stalks before the drying process takes place.

According to Kumaran, the leaves are dried in a controlled environment indoors, using a double-drying technique that he improvised by trial and error.

For the first stage of the drying process, he makes use of fans to do the job; during the second stage, the leaves are exposed to low-heat drying using a standard commercial gadget that has been modified to suit their requirements.

The leaves have to be dried until they shrink to five or 10 per cent of their original weight – only then are the leaves ready to be ground into powder in a grinder.

The Moringa powder is then transferred to another facility in Bukit Rotan, near Bestari Jaya, where it is packed into capsules.

Currently, Grassroots Moringa Project participants produce about half a tonne of leaves per month, which yields 300 kg of powder – enough to produce 1,000 bottles of Moringa capsules, said Kumaran.

He is also in the process of applying for halal certification from the Islamic Development Department Malaysia (JAKIM), as well as seek the necessary approvals for his product to penetrate international markets.

Meanwhile, Kolej Vokasional Kuala Selangor in Bestari Jaya has agreed to collaborate with Grassroots Moringa Project to produce soap, shampoo and

facial cleanser using Moringa leaves.

The college has also set aside some space in its campus to allow Grassroots Moringa Project to use it as a production facility.

“We will start producing our Moringa powder at our new facility soon,” added Kumaran.

For more information on his Moringa powder, please visit the Gooddeeds Moringa Selangor Facebook page. — Bernama