Empowering communities through sustainable nutrition

– 29 April 2026 –

Lucida with her homegrown leafy vegetables. Photo by Hosea Pallangyo

In many rural communities in northern Tanzania, daily diets are based on starchy staples such as maize, rice, and cassava, with limited consumption of vegetables – particularly leafy greens. While such staples provide energy, they often lack essential vitamins and minerals needed for good health. As a result, poor dietary diversity contributes to malnutrition, frequent illness, and reduced productivity, especially among women and children. Addressing these gaps requires not only improving access to vegetables but also changing long-standing eating habits and food choices.

Lucida Arbogast Mashelle, a resident of Karatu District in the country’s Arusha Region, is a government extension worker. She was trained by the World Vegetable Center through the Africa Research In Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation program (Africa RISING) under which WorldVeg led the vegetable theme. One of the project’s key activities was building the capacity of government extension workers to promote the production of safe and nutritious vegetables including tomato, amaranth, African nightshade, and mustard to improve community health, nutrition, and household incomes.

Although the project was completed more than three years ago, Lucida’s dedication has not diminished; instead, her impact has continued to grow. While WorldVeg initially worked in six villages in Karatu District, Lucida has expanded her outreach beyond the original project area to an additional village, Gongali. She also supports school gardens and nutrition activities at Gongali and Kinihhe Primary Schools, Edith Gvora Secondary School, and Welwel Secondary School. Some of these communities are located up to 30 kilometers from her home, yet distance has never slowed her commitment to improving nutrition and livelihoods through vegetables.

Lucida reaches farmers both individually and through group meetings, ward gatherings, and village assemblies. Every three months, she participates in village nutrition meetings, continuing to educate farmers on good dietary practices, including the six food groups, taught through WorldVeg training and other partner institutions.

Her approach is holistic. Farmers are trained in the entire value chain of nutrition from production and transportation to processing and storage. Through her guidance, many farmers are diversifying their crops, combining vegetables and fruits, and selling them in local markets.

But beyond production, Lucida focuses on changing eating habits. This can be a challenging task in communities where cultural practices – such as restricting newly married women from eating eggs, which are often cooked and consumed alongside vegetables to improve dietary diversity – are deeply ingrained.

Despite her successes, challenges remain. Access to high-quality vegetable seeds and climate-resilient fruits is limited, and farmers need ongoing training to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Lucida’s request is simple but urgent: she hopes WorldVeg can provide experts to offer refresher training on improved seeds and nutrition technologies, as three years have passed since her last formal training.

 Lucida is grateful for the knowledge and technologies she gained from WorldVeg, from understanding the importance of nutrition and how to prepare healthy meals to learning how to add value to vegetables and fruits. These skills have been crucial, especially during dry seasons when many farmers face uncertainty in producing reliable crops.

With her tireless dedication, Lucida continues to empower farmers, transform communities, and strengthen nutrition in Karatu proving that one committed individual can ripple change far beyond the villages she serves.

Africa RISING was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative.

Story by Nuru Ngailo and Inviolate Dominick/World Vegetable Center. Photo by Hosea Pallangyo.