Globally, 16 million children were reported to be severely wasted, and 159 million children
had stunted growth (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund et al., 2015).
Nearly 2.3 million children in South Africa were undernourished with 21-48%; 8-15% and 3.7%
being stunted; underweight and wasted, respectively (Gitau, 2009; Shisana et al., 2013). The
mortality rate of children, globally is estimated to be 3.1 million children, annually, and
micronutrient deficiencies contribute to 1.1 million deaths of children. Micronutrient
deficiencies or hidden hunger is mostly prevalent in Africa, specifically, Sub-Saharan Africa
and Southern Asia (Weisstaub & Araya, 2008; Black et al., 2013; Black et al., 2008).
A possible intervention could be to fortify snacks with Moringa oleifera leaf powder, since the
consumption of processed snacks is rising in middle-income countries and in South Africa
(Huffman et al., 2014; Ronquest-Ross et al., 2014). Moringa oleifera originated from South
Asia, in the Himalayan foothills, located from north-eastern Pakistan to Northern West Bengal
in India but now is also found in many tropics and sub-tropics of the world. (Fahey, 2005;
Jideani et al., 2014). Moringa oleifera is known as the “miracle tree” because of its nutritive
value (Fahey, 2005) and according to Fuglie (2001), a 100 g of Moringa oleifera leaf powder
contains 10 times the vitamin A of carrots, half the vitamin C of oranges, 17 times the calcium
of milk, 15 times the potassium of bananas, 25 times the iron of spinach and 9 times the
protein of yoghurt. The overall aim of the study was to assess whether Moringa oleifera-based
snacks could contribute to food and nutrition security for children through the acceptability
of caregivers.