My name is Joyce Charles; I am a mother of two children from Arusha City. For many years I have been involved in the vegetables and fruits business and I have been selling seasonal vegetables such as Amaranth, African nightshade, and Ethiopian mustard to my customers.

Through our women’s group, I attended a training on perennial vegetables such as chaya, moringa, cassava leaves, and katuk from ECHO East Africa. We were taught how to produce and prepare these perennial vegetables which have high nutrition. We were taught that perennial vegetables contain vitamins, minerals, and nutrients required to protect our health. 

I am grateful to have received this training as I have been able to expand my understanding of perennial vegetables compared to other annual vegetables. I learned how they can withstand drought, water scarcity, and also that you can plant once and continue harvesting for three to ten years. 

Through this training, I will be able to produce these vegetables for my family’s use and also for sale to increase income from selling produce since during the dry season it becomes difficult to find seasonal vegetables. Perennial vegetables, though, are available throughout the year.