Value Chain Management of Moringa (Moringa oleifera ): A Case Study in Ratnapura District

Abstract

Moringa is potentially one of the planet’s most valuable plants, at least in humanitarian terms but untouched for generations. The tree is raised for food rather than forestry and it yields at least four different edibles; pods, leaves, seeds, and roots. This research intended to understand the Moringa oleifera value chain from farm to fork while giving special attention to the governance and coordination of the value chain. Data collection was done using interviewer administrated structured questionnaire with three categories of respondents, farmers, intermediaries and consumers. The sample was identified using a combination of multistage sampling and snowball sampling. Two distinct value chains were identified relating to pods and leaves respectively. Descriptive statistics shows that other than the male head of the household, traders are the key decision makers in production activities. The decision to grow Moringa has significant relationship with factor demand for Moringa pods in the market, tolerance to drought, low cost and high yield of Moringa. Sales decisions were influenced by the price, convenience of transport and transparency of the transactions. According to Mann-Whitney test (0.02) Moringa leaf value chain showed a significant level of coordination than the Moringa pod value chain. Consumer preferences lies with pods compared to leaves. RBQ test results (72.28%) confirmed that unavailability of leaves in the market made it less considered. Seasonality affects badly on the consumption patterns. Results revealed the year round demand for both pods and leaves and positive demand trend shows the future opportunities.