The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) is urging the help and cooperation of Filipino malunggay farmers in the fight against poverty and climate change even as government has pledged to increase support services for farmers under its malunggay development program.

Speaking during the induction of the newly elected officers of the Moringa Growers Federation of the Philippines, NAPC Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban said malunggay farmers are in a position to mitigate the effects of climate change and increase employment opportunities for the poor.

“Malunggay trees can improve air quality and reduce the incidence of floods that are brought on by more frequent and more powerful typhoons,” Panganiban said.

Much of the flooding now seen in various parts of the country can be attributed to massive and widespread deforestation, he added.

Panganiban said the propagation of malunggay in the country’s poorest provinces can also increase employment opportunities for the poor and reduce hunger and malnutrition.

Panganiban said the propagation of malunggay in the country’s poorest provinces can also increase employment opportunities for the poor and reduce hunger and malnutrition.

Director Alicia Ilaga of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Biotechnology Unit agreed and reiterated her agency’s commitment to assist malunggay farmers throughout the country.

“Our first commitment is to help you identify agricultural lands suitable for malunggay commercial plantation,” she said.

She said the DA will also develop better technologies and shed facilities for the massive production of malunggay planting materials.

Ilaga said the DA is developing new technologies that will allow the production of 27,000 plantlets from a single seed.

“Last but not least, we will develop the standards for malunggay so we can maintain the quality of malunggay products and we can protect the industry we are creating,” Ilaga said.

Mr. Eufroceles D. Udarbe, president of the Moringa Growers Federation of the Philippines, meanwhile said that his organization is comprised of some 15 farmer associations. “We have already seen to the planting of malunggay in some 500 hectares nationwide,” he said.