ABOUT US

CO-FOUNDERS KWAMI AND EMILY LEARNED ONE THING DURING THEIR TIME AT COLLEGE:

MONEY GROWS ON TREES.

In 2011, Kwami had his sights set on becoming a rocket scientist. Emily was in the midst of her third year of studying development economics at Harvard, frustrated by the disconnect between the academic literature and the realities of poverty on the ground.

Coming from different worlds and backgrounds, they traveled to northern Ghana together with MIT’s D-Lab. There, they were united by a desire to take on the challenges smallholder farmers face daily without access to patient capital, quality inputs, technical training, or guaranteed markets.

planting moringa seeds

INTRODUCING TRUE MORINGA.

The more they learned about the harmful chemicals in synthetic cosmetics and hair relaxers, the more passionate they became about bringing conscious consumers a natural alternative that actually worked. Putting their engineering and business acumen to work, they went back to Cambridge to devise a proprietary extraction system that could be brought closer to the farmers, adding value and jobs on the ground, and producing the highest quality natural oil nature has to offer.

TODAY WE SERVE OVER 5,000 SMALL FARMING FAMILIES

WE HAVE PLANTED OVER 2,000,000 TREES

AND WE INCREASE FARMER INCOMES BY 10x

kwami true moringa farmer

ENTER THE MORINGA TREE.

During their time in Ghana, Kwami and Emily were introduced to what was known locally as “the miracle tree.” The tree thrives in arid climates. It helps the crops around it grow better. It can be intercropped with subsistence crops mitigating risk to farmers.

The leaves, with more vitamin A than carrots, more protein than eggs, more calcium than milk and more iron than spinach have the potential to end malnutrition and provide a stable food source to farmers.

The oil seeds, rich in anti-oxidants and moisturizing agents produce one of nature’s finest cosmetic oils for hair and skin care.

The solution to poverty, malnutrition, and hunger was growing in their own backyards.

women farmers trying true moringa oil

To apply to carry our True Moringa line or to learn more about bulk orders, email info@moringaconnect.com

Your skincare ingredients grow here!

who we are

In January of 2013, Kwami Williams and Emily Cunningham found themselves working in rural Ghana by different paths.

Emily was studying development economics at Harvard, frustrated by the disconnect between the information in her textbooks and realities in the developing world.

Born and raised in Ghana, Kwami and his family immigrated to the US at the age of 8. By 2012, he was living the American Dream having graduated from MIT with a degree in aerospace engineering and starting a career at NASA when a mentor challenged him to return to his native Ghana.

meet the moringa tree

It was here that the pair were introduced to the moringa tree. NGOs encouraged farmers to cultivate moringa for the nutritional benefits - gram for gram, the leaves of the tree contain more iron than spinach, more protein than yogurt, and more calcium than milk. But farmers didn’t have a way to earn a living cultivating moringa - no access to market.

So Kwami and Emily took the unused part of the tree - the seeds- back to their labs at MIT and figured out how to cold-press the moringa seeds into a nourishing oil that outperforms argan, jojoba, and shea.

Together, we set about building True Moringa with the mission of doing wellness differently. We believe that being healthy should be simple, affordable, and accessible to all.

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TOUR OUR FARM

5000 farmers. 3 million trees planted.

We envision a future in which all ingredients sourced by skincare and wellness brands provide transformative impact to the people and planet that produce them.

Plant a tree in your name here and search your order number here to see where your tree is planted and learn more about the farmer who benefits

We take a three pronged approach to ethical production through our farming, manufacturing, and product development

OUR JOURNEY STARTS AT THE FARM...

Climate Smart Agriculture

Your skincare is powered by solar! Our farm is home to West Africa's largest solar-powered irrigation project. Moringa trees are drought resistant, require little water, and capture 20x the carbon of other vegetation. We use a regenerative agriculture approach to protect soil health and increase biodiversity.
LAND ACCESS FOR WOMEN & TRIBAL MINORITIES

Community members who typically lack access to land are allotted a plot on our farm and given access to irrigation, organic certification, agricultural training, and wrap around services like child care, scholarship funding, health insurance, and more. These programs increased womens' participation in lucrative tree crop farming from 0% to 40%.
Building Community Wealth

True Moringa Farmers organize themselves into small groups of 30 members to form Village Savings and Loan Associations - micro banks through which members learn financial literacy skills, save their earnings from their moringa farms, and lend to other members at low interest rates. For every $1 invested in VSLAs, $10 of community wealth is generated.

Award winning ingredients made with love in ghana

cold-pressed moringa oil

Too often, commodities like cocoa and coffee are extracted from developing countries and all of the value addition is done in western countries. 98% of our team is from Ghana and based in Ghana full time where we cold press our moringa oil and mill our organic moringa powder. By creating jobs and adding value locally, we are shifting this paradigm.

explore moringa oil
ORGANIC MORINGA POWDER

Too often commodities like cocoa and coffee are extracted from developing countries and all of the value addition is done in western countries. 98% of our team is from Ghana and based in Ghana full time where we cold press our moringa oil and mill our organic moringa powder. By creating jobs and adding value locally, we are shifting this paradigm.

Explore moringa powder

superfood powered formulas backed by science

Our award winning formulas are always vegan, paraben free, sulfate free, but they are also packed with superfood nutrients backed by science and centuries of local knowledge.