Mr Mozart Adevu, Chairman of the Moringa Association of Ghana (MAG), has called on all producers of the plant to come together with one voice to gain certification and recognition from the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). He said when certified, the Association would have enough power to challenge the activities of quacks, eliminate sub-standard products, boost production and ensure quality standards. Mr Adevu, who was addressing a press conference in Accra on Thursday, said the Association had done a lot of education to drum home the benefits of the Moringa plant, which had been ascertained to be the most promising lifesaver, due to its high nutrition value. Moringa, dubbed: the "Miracle Tree", has several medicinal, nutritional, cosmetic and water purification properties and could also be used in alley cropping, animal foraging and organic fertilizers. Mr Adevu said since the establishment of the Association early this year, it had been working tirelessly in enhancing the capacity of its members in terms of training for quality establishment of Moringa plant plantation as well as processing and packaging. He said it was the overall objective of the Association to ensure that the Moringa industry in Ghana met food, social and environmental requirements to ensure quality and secured products for consumers. Mr Adevu, however, expressed concern about the recent proliferation of packed Moringa products on the market, saying the tendency for unwholesome, sub-standard products could not be disputed. He added that this was a great challenge to the Association in ensuring quality standards. "It is only when we unite into a strong force that we can eliminate these sub-standard products and help each other in the quality production of our products." Mr Adevu said the Food and Drugs Board and the Ghana Standards Board had pledged their support and were both committed to ensuring that only high quality standard Moringa products were sold on the market. "The Association is also supported with research and training through the efforts of the Food Research Institute and the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine. Dr Gladys Norley Ashitey, Deputy Minister of Health, assured the Association of the Ministry's support to ensure enhanced cultivation, processing and use of Moringa. She said with the highly endowed nutrition value of the plant, the Ministry sees it as a reliable potential in eliminating some of the nation's health problems, especially malnutrition. She also noted that the Moringa cultivation offered good and relatively low investments in business opportunity for several unemployed and underemployed persons and a road map to making Ghana a prosperous nation. Dr Ashitey stressed that while it was good to promote Moringa cultivation and processing, quality must never be compromised saying, "any irresponsible behaviour on the part of any individual or group of persons could pose serious health hazards to consumers." She called for concerted efforts towards ensuring best practices in production and processing of the plant to help bring quality health and nutrition to the doorstep of all Ghanaians. Source: GNA