From fresh leaves to ready-to-cook packs:
How Ishara Julie built a leafy vegetable business in Bukavu, DRC

– 26 February 2026 –

Ishara at her home-based processing facility in Bukavu, holding ready-to-cook packs of leafy vegetables. Photo courtesy of Ishara’s family.

Ishara Julie (30) runs her business by one rule: leafy vegetables don’t wait. Since her products are highly perishable, she starts early each morning.

As soon as the amaranth and pumpkin leaves, cabbage, and cassava leaves arrive from farmers, she washes, trims, cuts, and packs them into ready-to-cook bundles. This ensures they are fresh, safe, convenient and of consistent quality for customers. In DRC’S conflict-affected South Kivu region, market conditions can change quickly; Ishara has developed an approach built on speed, hygiene, and planning that reduces risk and minimizes waste.

Ishara began selling vegetables in 2022, looking for a reliable livelihood she could manage as a young woman. Her business supports her three children and, at times, her parents and orphaned children living near her home. But at first, growing the business was difficult: her monthly sales volume fluctuated between 150 and 400 kg, and postharvest losses were high and unpredictable. Market access was also limited, so she mainly promoted products to people she met directly. Spoilage or inconsistent quality could quickly erase gains.

In the last quarter of 2025, Ishara was among 47 participants who attended a training facilitated by the World Vegetable Center under the Beans for Women’s Empowerment (B4WE) project in Musanze, Rwanda, which combines bean-led empowerment with nutrition-sensitive vegetable value chains. The training covered postharvest handling, packaging, entrepreneurship, and digital marketing. Back in Bukavu, she immediately applied what she learned, improving sorting and hygiene, upgrading branded packaging and sealing, and managing timing and shade to reduce heat exposure. Prior to the training she mainly processed and sold cassava leaves; but following the training she diversified to meet demand, adding amaranth, pumpkin leaves, and cabbage.

Ishara showcasing ready-to-cook packages of amaranth, onion, cabbage, and pumpkin leaves prepared during a hands-on demonstration of minimal processing. Photo credit: WorldVeg.

A major shift came as a result of Ishara’s adoption of digital marketing. She moved away from selling her vegetables on the street in her community, and  set up an ordering and delivery system primarily via by WhatsApp, and also Facebook. About 75% of her sales now come from orders received this way, while the remainder comes from promoting the products she has in stock.

Ishara also strengthened her supply chain by sharing good harvesting and handling practices with suppliers and farmers to protect the quality of the vegetables during transport. Today, she works through 15 suppliers linked to about 300 small-scale farmers around Bukavu, helping stabilize supply and improve the quality of vegetables arriving for processing.

The results are clear. From earning an estimated USD 350–750 per month with postharvest losses between 20–40%, Ishara now reports monthly sales value of about USD 1,750 (about 700 kg of produce), and losses of 2–4%. She sells 1 kg packs of leafy vegetables at USD 2.50 to household customers, and 1.5 kg packs at USD 3 to hotels and restaurants.

Branded ready-to-cook leafy vegetable packs, processed and prepared for delivery to customers. Photo credit: Ishara Julie

“When I improved handling and packaging, customers started trusting the quality. With WhatsApp orders, I can plan better, and I lose much less than before,” says Ishara.

Ishara saves through mobile money Airtel Money, a mobile money platform, and SMICO, a microfinance service. She has invested in essential tools, including basic minimal processing equipment such as a weighing scale, knives, buckets, a worktable, colanders, and branded bags, plus a smartphone for marketing and customer management. These investments support the B4WE project pathway to women’s empowerment through stronger sales, savings, and asset-building.

Demand for Ishara’s ready-to-cook leafy vegetables is increasing, but one constraint remains: limited cold storage. Without cold storage, she must process and distribute quickly to protect freshness. Ishara estimates that with a cool chamber or refrigerator, a vacuum sealing machine, a solar dryer to diversify into dried products, and working capital, she could grow from about 700 kg per month to 3–5 tonnes per month, serving more customers reliably while maintaining quality and strengthening benefits across her farmer supply network and her household.

Author: Jeremiah Sigalla, World Vegetable Center

This activity is part of the Beans for Women’s Empowerment (B4WE) project, funded by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada. The project is implemented by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) with technical contributions from the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg).