Technical Process and Economic Analyses of Organic Moringa Oleifera Production in the Sahel Region of Niger

In the Sahel of Niger, the fight against food insecurity remains one of the main major challenges. To reduce the effects and impacts of recurring food crises in rural areas, the production and processing of organic Moringa oleifera have been developed to strengthen community resilience. This study aims to analyze the technical and economic aspects of the production and processing of organic M. oleifera to achieve this a digital interview guide was designed on KoboCollect and administered to 231 heads of households including 132 women and 99 men in the Sahel regions of Maradi and Zinder, Niger. Data on moringa production systems, types of processed moringa products, and the financial profitability of operating accounts was analyzed. The results revealed that the seasonal cultivation practices identified two moringa production systems irrigated and rainfed. The results showed that in the rainy season, producers practice the production of pure organic moringa (82%) organic moringa associated with cereals (9.1%), and organic moringa associated with legumes (8.9%). Most producers associate organic moringa with market gardening crops (70.42%) and pure moringa (29.58%) for the irrigated system. Furthermore, the different types of processed products, are Dried Moringa Leaves (FSM), Precooked Moringa Leaves (PML), Moringa Leaf Powder (MLP), and Moringa Oil (MO). The analysis of the operating accounts showed that the irrigated moringa production system is more profitable than the rainfed system with (55%) financial profitability in Kanambakaché and Droum (55%). On the other hand, the rainfed moringa production system is less profitable with a financial profitability rate of 36% in Dogo.