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This document was produced with the financial assistance of CTA. The ideas expressed in it are those of the authors and cannot be considered as the opinion of CTA.

Economic sheet on production of Moringa leaf powder

Case in Benin: Intercropping of Moringa with other crops by women groups.

Transformation by groups of women, either manually (mortar), or with a mill (piece work).

Table 1:

Cost of transformation by hectare and per year

Activity	Number of women working	Number of work hours/harvest	Cost of work/harvest (village processing)	Cost of work/harvest (workshop processing)	Total cost/year (6 to 8 harvests)
Harvesting leaves	15	3h/day x 15 = 45	3,000F	3,000F	18.000
Washing leaves	10	30min/day x 10 = 5	1,000F	1,000F	6.000
Turning leaves on the drier and spreading after washing	6	30min/day x 6 days x 6 women = 18	2,000F	2,000F	12.000
Grinding of leaves in the mill	5	30min/day x 5 =2,5		1,000F
Crushing of leaves by the women*	5	7h/day x 5 = 35	2,500F		17.000
Sieving of the powder	10	1h30/day x 10 =15	1,000F	1,000F	6.000
Storage of the powder	5	1h/day x 5 = 5		500F	3.000
Putting quantities to sell under plastic	2	2h/day x 2 =4		2,000F	12.000
Selling and delivery	3	5h/jour x 3 =15	2,000F	2,000F	12.000
			11,500 FCFA	12,500 FCFA	86 000 FCFA

Table 2: Annual cost of leaf production and transformation equipment

in the village by a group of women

Designation	Quantity	Unit price	TOTAL
Seeds	3 kg	800F	2,400F
Hoes	4	600F	2,400F
Dabas	4	2,000F	8,000F
Baskets	2	2,000F	4,000F
Secateurs	2	3,000	6,000
Bags	3	350	1,050
Buckets	3	1500	4,500
Small condiment bags	1500	2	3,000
Drying sheets or mats	2	3,000	6,000
Storage recipients	2	2,500	5,000
Measuring doser	3	100	300
Mortar and pestle	1	7,000	7,000
Brooms	5	100	500
Scales	1	8,000	8,000
Sieving bowls	2	4,000	8,000
Sieve	4	400	1,600
Building rental	12	1,000	12,000
TOTAL			79,750F

• The storage recipient is a recipient used to collect and store dried leaves (easier air circulation).

• The jute 100 kg bags are used to collect the fresh leaves in the fields.

Table 3: Accumulated cost of production and transformation per ha

(intercropping)

Specific activity	Quantity/year	Total cost/ha/year	Cost for 4.375 ha
Ploughing	40% total cost of plot	12,000
Sowing	1	12,000
Re-sowing	1	1,500
Separation	1	3,000
Sub-total installation		28,500 F	124,687.5
Maintenance (manure, weeding)	40% total cost of plot	20,000 F	87,500
Harvest	7	18,000
Sub total harvest & transformation (table 1)		86,000F	376,250
TOTAL		134,500 FCFA	588,438 FCFA

Table 6: Yield, value and hours of work in the plantations monitored by GARPE

Surface area	Type of culture	Total quantity of fresh leaves harvested (1)	Total quantity stripped leaves % (2)	Total quantity of dried leaves % (3)	Total quantity powder produced % (4)	Total quantity residue %	Quantity & total value for sale (5)	Number of hours work or number of days
4.375 Ha	Intercropping	3984.5 kg	3785 kg or 95% of (1)	567.75 kg or 15% of (2)	564.70 kg or 99% of (3)	2.3 kg or 0.5% of (4)	562.4 kg or 562,400 F at 1,000 F/kg or 843,600 F at 1,500 F/kg	866 hours or 86.6 days/year

*(1) = the quantity of fresh leaves harvested in the field

(2) = the quantity of leaves without petiole

(3) = the real quantity of dried leaves without petiole even after 14 days of drying

(4) = the quantity of powder after crushing in the mill

(5) = the quantity of powder after sieving

* Except in case of mould and handling losses, the weights mentioned are harvested.

*NB: We assume that a day’s work is equal to 10 hours.

Table 17: Economic situation of plantations monitored by GARPE after one year

Total Surface area of plantations	Total number of working hours	Investment and operating costs (with mill and bagging machines not included in the investment)		Quantity of powder produced	Total value of powder sold	Gross profit
4.375 Ha	866 hours	Plot installation	124,687.5	562.4kg	562,400 F at 1,000 F/kg or 843,600 F at 1,500 F/kg	- 185, 538 or + 95, 662
		Plot maintenance	87,500
		Transformation	376 250
		Equipment	79,750 x 2 for 2 production units
		TOTAL	747, 938 FCFA

Here the cost of producing one kilo of leaf powder is 747, 938 / 562.4 = 1,330 FCFA/ kg, or 2 € /kg, which is half of the cost of the intensive Senegalese system, but still quite a high price for local sale.

Selling at 1,500 FCFA/kg generates a profit, but rather small (170 FCFA/kg). Nevertheless, the women groups and farmers are interested in this production and more and more numerous to get involved. In this system, production costs are reasonable, especially considering that they are a little overrated, with the buying of basic equipment (hoes) and the pricing of women working time.

Actually, 80% of the production and processing costs are manpower. This means that on top of the 170 FCFA, the Moringa powder sellers earn 80% x 1,330 FCFA = 1,064 FCFA per kilo to pay for their working time.

Rather than production costs, the low yields are what reduces profitability. It must be noted that this production is practiced in a rather dry area, without irrigation, and Moringa is intercropped with other plants. The yields per hectare are low compared to Togo, Niger and Senegal, because the trees are much further apart, but the profits are made up by the associated crops.

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