Researches and innovative investigations have paramount role in making the society understand and effectively utilize the yet to tapped natural and social resources of the country, said Damtew Darza (Ph.D), Arba Minch University President.
Arba Minch University is hosting a two-day dissemination workshop of multi-sectorial interdisciplinary research findings on moringa stenopetala.
Addressing the workshop yesterday, the university president stated that researches in the area have been conducted in the last three and half years by thirteen institutions, including Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), Ministry of Innovation and Technology, Arba Minch University (AMU), Addis Ababa University.
He also stated that moringa tree (commonly known as Shiferaw in Amharic) is a very common and widely used plant for food by the community in Arba Minch and the surrounding areas. Since it was proved that the tea has a food and medicinal value for human health, the tree will have a significant national benefit for Ethiopian society as a whole.
As to Damtew, the activities performed and results obtained in this research project have significant contributions for health and nutrition, agro-ecology and economic values of the moringa tree, ensuring the community food and nutrition security.
“All of us can take this project practices as a good learning experience as it was done by multi-sectorial, institutional and diverse professionals’ engagement and has been accomplished effectively,” he said, adding that the project can also be taken as exemplary for demonstrating the culture of working together in a team.
In his opening remark, Dr. Getachew Tolera, Ethiopian Public Health Institute Deputy Director-General, noted that among its various research agenda, the Institute is working in collaboration with local and international stakeholders to support the indigenous knowledge and traditional medicines in modern and scientific researches.
Moringa tree is an indigenous multipurpose tree and recently the tree is attracting attentions at national level in southern and south western parts of the country and it is used for traditional medicine, food for human being and animals, and for filtering water.
“As a nation, we have not used the indigenous knowledge and medicines properly so far. However, various works have been done to get the moringa tree used by bring all stakeholders together and assessing the importance of the tree for medicine, agro-forest, and socio the director-general stated.