Two Million
Moringa Trees
Point to the moringa tree and ask a farmer in Ghana what it’s called. He might tell you it’s the “Never Die Tree” because it thrives in even the harshest of climates and is nearly impossible to kill. He might call it the “Miracle Tree,” which fits, as its leaves are miraculously nutrient-dense, with more vitamin A than carrots, more iron than spinach, more protein than yogurt, and more calcium than milk. In spite of this, the farmer couldn’t afford to invest time or resources into growing the moringa tree. It wasn’t a profitable plant to grow.
It was during their field work for MIT’s D-lab program that True Moringa co-founders Kwami Williams, a Ghanan-born, American-raised aerospace engineer, and Emily Cunningham, a Harvard Development Economics student, began to put the pieces together. If they could find a market for the seeds, they realized, the moringa tree could provide a source of profit, food, and autonomy to the community. They took the seeds back to their labs at MIT and developed the technology to cold-press them into a deeply moisturizing oil for hair and skin.
“We realized farmers could earn 4-10x more than they were earning by growing one acre of moringa,” says Emily. “So we set out to help connect the farmers we met to conscious consumers worldwide.”
To make this happen, Kwami moved back to his birthplace, and started building the True Moringa factory. “Kwami literally built our oil processing factory by hand, breaking windows out of walls and constructing our first machinery,” says Emily. Since then, they’ve been on a mission to set a new standard for ethical sourcing in the beauty and wellness industry, while helping farmers move from poverty to prosperity.
As a natural beauty ingredient, moringa oil has earned a reputation as a bit of an elixir — ”the new argan,” some call it — with beauty bloggers, dermatologists, and fashion magazines all singing its praises. It penetrates deep to moisturize and nourish the skin thoroughly, minimizing the appearance of fine lines.
To date, True Moringa has planted over two million trees, one for every purchase made on their website. These trees not only provide the luxurious, deeply moisturizing oil, they also combat deforestation and malnutrition in Ghana.
“Our mission to help farming families move from poverty to prosperity,” Emily says. “That’s the reason our team shows up to work every day.”
