This guest blog feature comes to us from Emma Giloth of Kuli Kuli. From April 19 to May 2, for every Kuli Kuli product sold at participating Whole Foods Market stores, Kuli Kuli will plant a moringa tree and donate 15% of each sale towards funding loans for micro-entrepreneurs with Whole Planet Foundation’s microfinance partners.
Moringa is a tree that has potential to reforest places like Haiti while providing the local population with a sustainable livelihood. Kuli Kuli is doing this by planting thousands of moringa trees and supporting the livelihoods of its moringa suppliers in Haiti, Kuli Kuli is thrilled to continue these efforts by planting 1000 trees in Haiti and partnering with Whole Planet Foundation to fund 12 micro-loans around the globe in commemoration of Earth Day 2017.
Earth Day is an important occasion for like-minded organizations to band together to draw resources and attention towards the environmental health of vulnerable areas around the world. Kuli Kuli has worked since 2015 to help reforest Haiti with drought-tolerant moringa trees while also providing Haitian smallholder farmers access to the growing market for moringa powder. This initiative began two years ago through the creation of Kuli Kuli’s Green Energy Shots, an innovative beverage that is a cross between a nutritious green juice and an cup of coffee. In collaboration with Whole Foods Market, the Clinton Foundation’s Haiti Program, and the Smallholder Farmers Alliance, Kuli Kuli developed this new product line now sold nationwide in Whole Foods Market stores, paving the way for planting over 100,000 moringa trees and creating livelihoods for hundreds of Haitian farmers.
Haiti is one of several countries where Kuli Kuli harnesses moringa to support smallholder farmers and lead reforestation initaitives. Thus far, the company has planted over 200,000 moringa trees and supported over 800 women farmers across the globe. Kuli Kuli’s moringa is sourced from farming cooperatives in Ghana, Haiti and Nicaragua where they work closely with their suppliers as well as local non-profits to train them to produce the highest quality moringa and to use moringa to improve nutrition locally. With the goal to ensure that everyone has access to the nutritional power of moringa, Kuli Kuli is a resource for all those interested in starting a moringa project. Learn more here about Kuli Kuli’s moringa projects across the globe.
Member of Smallholder Farmer’s Alliance plants a moringa tree in Gonaives, Haiti. Photo by: Smallholder Farmers Alliance
To strengthen these efforts, Kuli Kuli is partnering this April with Whole Planet Foundation to fund 12 microloans through Whole Planet Foundation’s microfinance partners like Fonkoze Financial Services in Haiti. From April 19 to May 2, for every Kuli Kuli product sold at participating Whole Foods Markets Kuli Kuli will plant a moringa tree and donate 15% of each sale towards funding loans for micro-entrepreneurs through the foundation.
One such entrepreneur is Rosmene, a mother of four children who lives in the Milot, a mountainous area of Northern Haiti where residents have little access to financial services. Rosmene’s drive to build a better life for her family led her to join WPF’s microfinance partner Fonkoze’s Ti Kredi six-month financial education program. The program gave her the skills and connections to establish a loan solidarity group.
When Whole Planet Foundation last visited Rosmene, she had just completed her third loan cycle of 2500 Haitian Gouds, or about $60 USD. She used her loan capital to start a microenterprise selling rice, plantains, bananas and yams to neighboring markets. When asked about her experience with Ti Kredi, Rosmene says before the program she had started a business but was unable to sustain it due to lack of capital, but today, with Ti Kredi’s loans, she is now able to grow her business and support her family.
Interested in making a positive impact this Earth Day? From April 19 to May 2, for every Kuli Kuli product sold at participating Whole Foods Market stores, Kuli Kuli will plant a moringa tree and donate 15% of each sale towards funding loans for micro-entrepreneurs.
Nourish yourself this Earth Month while also supporting the environmental health of Haiti and entrepreneurs around the globe like Rosmene. Learn more about the impact of Whole Planet Foundation here.
For a list of participating Whole Foods Market stores, visit Kuli Kuli’s blog.