Moringa oleifera as a sustainable climate-smart solution to nutrition, disease prevention, and water treatment challenges: A review

Abstract

Diseases such as Covid-19 pose an inescapable challenge to the world. There is an undeniable link between nutrition, water quality, and many diseases. With poverty and recurrent food shortages as an unpleasant fact in Africa, alternative cost-effective, accessible, and affordable therapies can improve health and well-being, and prolong the lives of people especially those with underlying health problems. To lead a healthier life, all people, irrespective of their health condition, need to meet their daily energy, protein, and micronutrient requirements by eating a variety of foods. Maintaining good nutritional status helps to build and support the immune system, allowing the body to fight infection. Clean water is not only needed to provide nourishment, keep the house environment clean, in agriculture and food production, and to take medicines but also for a wide range of other uses such as the prevention and transmission of water-borne diseases (diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid) particularly in infants and HIV-positive mothers who cannot breastfeed their babies for fear of infecting them, etc. A massive effort is needed to cushion the impact of the pandemic, and nutritional care and support should be integral elements of any action taken. An evidence-based response is required to alleviate the overall burden of malnutrition and to reduce the severity and complexity of the impact of Covid-19 and malnutrition have on each other. Good nutrition is important in tackling Covid-19. As the sayings go, ‘’an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’’ and ‘’prevention is better than cure’’. The cultivation and utilization of Moringa is being advocated for as a sustainable solution to the above-mentioned challenges. This review is aimed at showing the potential of the Moringa in terms of cultivation, agroforestry, food fortification for tackling malnutrition, disease prevention and provision of safe-drinking water. • Moringa oleifera is an easy to cultivate climate-smart plant that can improve household food security and nutrition and mitigate the negative effects on climate. • Moringa oleifera has both nutritional and medicinal properties that help to build and support the immune system. • The seeds of Moringa oleifera have effective water treatment properties and thus can play a role in the provision of safe drinking water and prevent water-borne diseases. • Moringa oleifera can alleviate the overall burden of malnutrition and reduce the severity and complexity of the impact of Covid-19.