The Moringa Cooperative is a for-profit business focused on improving food security in an impoverished rural area of South Africa. The enterprise is piloting to donate Moringa trees to local eco-schools, which are then cared for by teachers, students and young school leavers. The seeds will be harvested and pressed to extract organic oil, which is sold to local cosmetic raw ingredient manufacturer, 2014 SEED Award winner Botanica Natural Products.

It combines a nutritional product  – leaf powder – with a cosmetic by-product  – oil – to create a potentially profitable company that works with and supports local eco-schools and rural communities.

The enterprise is women-run and facilitates young women to gain skills, generate income and contribute to their communities. As the only organic Moringa oil producer in South Africa, the enterprise has established a promising new value chain from a local resource.