Herou Alliance founder recognized as UN Changemaker — Mongabay

Rokiata Traore, founder of the Malian social enterprise Herou Alliance, was recognized as a Changemaker as part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Action Awards. The award ceremony took place on October 29 in Rome, Italy. The enterprise uses agroforestry to restore degraded land in Mali and create jobs for women and young people, Mongabay reports.

Agroforestry and moringa products

Herou Alliance grows seedlings, trains farmers and plants trees. Since 2021, the organization has been developing commercial production chains related to Moringa oleifera. In one previous interview, Traore said she is sometimes called the “moringa queen.”

The enterprise produces herbal tea, powders, honey, soap, spices and dietary supplements from moringa leaves, flowers and seeds for national, regional and international markets. Moringa originates from South Asia, but it is now also widely cultivated in Africa.

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The tree is considered drought-resistant, which is why it is planted in reforestation and afforestation programs aimed at combating land degradation. At the same time, according to the publication, there is a lack of research into the effectiveness of moringa in such programs in the arid Sahel region.

Goals through 2040

Herou Alliance aims to restore 10 million hectares of degraded land in Mali by 2040. According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, land degradation in the country affected 11.5 million hectares in 2019 and impacted more than 6.5 million people.

According to Traore, the organization has already planted 150,000 moringa and baobab trees and trained more than 2,000 smallholder farmers in rural areas. She said land restoration creates new economic opportunities for communities.