Community Education and Moringa Leaf Food Innovation in Payaroba Village

Abstract

This article describes a community service program that introduced moringa leaf food products and nutrition awareness activities in Payaroba Village, West Binjai, Indonesia. The program, known as KELUPAS, involved women from a local Yasin recitation group, children attending a learning group at the Ummi Muliani orphanage, and residents of Neighborhood II. Preparation included consultation with the group leader, discussion of activity arrangements, preparation of educational materials, and food processing. Activities combined lectures, questions and answers, explanations of moringa cultivation and processing, and distribution of seedlings and prepared foods. The documented outputs were an education meeting, moringa crackers for the women’s group, seedlings for household cultivation, and pudding and croquettes for children. Photographs illustrated the activities and products. The available documentation did not include participant counts, standardized recipes, nutrient analyses, pretest and posttest scores, or child growth measurements. Consequently, the findings describe program delivery and food innovation without establishing improvements in nutritional status or prevention of stunting. The experience provides a basis for subsequent community activities that combine locally available foods with nutrition education and systematic evaluation of participation, product acceptability, and household use.