Abstract
A survey was carried out to evaluate the potentials of Moringa oleifera (Lam) within and outside the Kano metropolis of Kano state, Nigeria, where it serves as vegetable and hedgerow plant for diet supplements and multipurpose utilizations. Structured interview was used with a total of 100 respondents, randomly spread. In the Kano metropolis, which falls within the Kano city, 4 Local Government Areas (LGAs) were covered. These are: Nassarawa, Ungogo, Tarauni and Dala; while Madobi, Minjiibir, Garun Mallam and Dambatta LGAs were covered outside the Kano metropolis. Results of the structured interview using the Convenience Sampling Technique revealed that Moringa is very rich nutritionally, economically and medicinally. Moringa utilization cuts across various categories of people with 69% usage recorded for male and 40% for literate users, while students and civil servants had 21% each. Moringa farmers that cultivates simultaneously on farmlands and backyard gardens were however 73%. Analysis of results further indicated that the plant is rated very high as diet supplements in the state, owing to the fact that it is very rich nutritionally, apart from its economic and medicinal values. It is however recommended that its nursery propagation be encouraged, and community interest in its cultivation mobilized.
Highlights
Multiplicity of products is derivable from the forests
A survey was carried out to evaluate the potentials of Moringa oleifera (Lam) within and outside the Kano metropolis of Kano state, Nigeria, where it serves as vegetable and hedgerow plant for diet supplements and multipurpose utilizations
Results of the structured interview indicated that M. oleifera is highly cultivated in homestead gardens and farmlands in Kano State, serving as vegetables for diet supplements, and for other socio-economic utilizations
Summary
Multiplicity of products is derivable from the forests. Apart from wood products, forest provides a wide range of non-timber forest products which are well known and utilized by rural and urban dwellers. Studies had shown that Nigeria and the tropical world is endowed with abundant forest lands, rich in valuable plants and raw materials (Soladoye, et al, 1993), the biological products which the world’s poor depends on to as much as 90% for their needs in terms of food, fuel, medicine, shelter and transportation (Vernooy, 2003). Prominent among these is Moringa oleifera (Lam), which has very high nutrition, medicinal and other economic values (Madukwe, 2013). The genus Moringa has about 13 species and it is native to northern India from where it spread to the tropics and sub-tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America; gaining significant grounds throughout the world for its nutritional, medicinal, and industrial values as reported by Muhamman (2008)
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