After the 2011 famine that killed 260,000 people, Dr. Deqo and her team launched a new initiative to help mitigate the extreme effects of climate change on her community and country. Starting in 2012, she pioneered the urban cultivation of Moringa Oleifera trees, a uniquely nutritious and protein-rich crop that thrives under extreme drought conditions. At the height of the famine, Dr. Deqo planted a local variety of Moringa Oleifera trees outside her medical clinic, and shared her crops and seeds with the t
Ten years later, Moringa Oleifera is now cultivated in backyards and street corners across Somalia, as a life-saving strategy to protect against famine. Building on this success, Dr. Deqo and the Hagarla Institute are now leading a global team of scientists and researchers to determine how exactly Somalia – and other countries across the Horn of Africa and Sahel regions of Africa – can use Moringa Oleifera as a low-cost, high-impact tool to offset the extreme effects of climate change, improve local food se
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