Touting the Magic of Timorese Moringa

Nina and Khristoforus are two unceasingly enthusiasic individuals who have been promoting organic moringa from the interior of Timor Island. Today, around 1,000 people are earning a profit from the moringa business.

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS PATI HERIN

Nina Purwiyantini (right) and Khristoforus A Kali

Nina Purwiyantini sat among a group of women while gathering the moringa leaves they had just bought from a farmer in Kufeu village, Malaka regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). They were racing against time, as the leaves of the moringa (Moringa oleifera) must be placed in a dryer within four hours after harvesting. Later than that, and the quality of the moringa leaves will decline.

Nina, who is of Javanese descent, spoke in the fluent Malay dialect of Malaka. She also speaks Dawan and Tetun, the two major languages in Timor. Since she married a Timor islander, the mother of three has been working in social affairs in NTT province. Her work is primarily in economics and peacebuilding, especially following the1999 East Timor referendum.

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Her activities in social affairs led her to fall in love with moringa six years ago, at a seminar in Kefamenanu, the capital of North Timor Tengah regency. Nina then decided to develop organic moringa. She chose Kufeu because a local Catholic priest was offering his family land for farming. Then, Nina began experimenting.

She gathered an initial group of nine local women, most of whom are housewives with education up to senior high school. She decided to work with women because they were relatively easy to organize and had a sense of solidarity. She named the group Maspete, which means agile or nimble in the Dawan language. As the head of the group, the women nicknamed Nina bot, meaning “eldest sister”. "Not ‘boss’," Nina said on Friday (06/03/2020).

The key is to listen. Don\'t be patronizing.

With the support of Nina’s network, the women were trained in moringa cultivation, from pre-planting to post-production. Initially, she had difficulty convincing the women that they would benefit from the business.

"I try to stay with them to learn what they want," she said.

Nina often spends time away her home in Kefamenanu, North Timor Tengah regency, about 80 kilometers from Kufeu. She rides her motorbike along the smoothly paved Jl. Timor Raya and across the damaged inland roads of Malaka regency. It took her almost six months to be welcomed and accepted.

"The key is to listen. Don\'t be patronizing," said the accounting graduate.

After the group was formed, they spread out to tell farmers about organic moringa, cultivated on land that has not been contaminated by pesticides. It takes about three years for land to recover from chemical pesticides, which can be determined by checking the soil and plant roots.

Kompas

Workers are processing Moringa leaves.

Success story

The group of women became a business pioneer. They planted their own land with moringa and gathered their first harvest just six months after planting. The leaves can then be harvested every two weeks. The group also buys moringa leaves for Rp 5,000 per kilogram, and then they process the leaves for making various products like tea and soap.

Maspete’s success story spread among the local villagers who had initially responded indifferently to their invitation to join them. These villagers then came to ask to join the moringa farmers group. Today, 178 farmers cultivate moringa on 64 hectares of farmland. They come from Kufeu as well as the neighboring villages of Ikantuanbeis, Tunmat, Tunabesi, Biau and Naibone in Io Kufeu and Sasitamen districts.

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At least 1,000 people have benefited from farming moringa. The farmers’ children can now go to school. The women in the pockets of poverty in rural NTT now have additional income.

Nina and the group were overwhelmed by the sudden increase in moringa production. They were unable to buy all the moringa leaves because they had limited funds. It was at this point that Khristoforus “Isto” A. Kali showed up to help them.

Isto is an expert staffer assigned to the villages of Malaka regency, and has been working in community empowerment for the past dozen years or so.

He arranged the administrations of the moringa farmers’ villages to get involved. Today, there are nine dryers in six villages. Isto also approached the village heads to provide capital investment to Maspete, and then finally incorporated Maspete as a village-owned business of Kufeu through a long, drawn-out process.

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS PATI HERIN

Moringa processing in Kufeu Village, District Io Kufeu, Malacca Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, on Saturday (2/22/2020)

In 2019, Isto encouraged the villages to allocate an annual budget of Rp 100 million to Maspete. He also discussed regional moringa development with the regency and provincial administrations, and guided the village administrations to formulate local regulations on protecting moringa. One of these prohibits the use of pesticides.

"Rules are needed to maintain quality. The sanctions that have been prepared are customary fines. This is very effective, because the people respect adat (customary laws)," said Isto.

It has not been easy to get the villagers involved in moringa cultivation. Many groups have refused, citing a variety of reasons. Nina and the women of Maspete met with frequent disappointment, but Isto was there to cheer them on.

Isto, who is a native of Timor and lives in Betun, the regency capital, often comes out to meet with village heads and community figures in Kufeu. "A cultural approach is needed," he said.

The group’s hard work has increased the renown of the moringa. In addition to NTT, their products are distributed to a number of regions in the country, even abroad. In 2019, Maspete won two national awards: first place in Village Innovation and third place in Superior Village Products.

Nina and Isto have been pivotal in the success of Timor’s moringa.

Nina Purwiyantini

Born: Cimahi, 28 Oct. 1972

Occupation: Chairwoman, Maspete

Khristoforus A. Kali

Born: Atambua, 2 June 1985

Occupation: Village empowerment expert staffer, Malaka regency, NTT