COLCHESTER, Vt. (AP) — A woman who survived refugee camps in Africa now has a thriving business growing African eggplants in Vermont and selling them across the United States.

Janine Ndagijimana (en-DAH’-gee-gee-mah-nah) says she hopes the money she makes from farming will allow her to send her children to college.

She grows an oblong white eggplant, also called bitter ball or garden egg. She says she hopes to expand her crop from 3 acres (1.2 hectares) to eventually farm 10 acres (4.1 hectares). She says her inspiration to grow the eggplant came from her time in Tanzania, where she learned it’s a good cash crop.

Ndagijimana is among an expanding group of farmers from Asia, Africa and Latin America who are planting and selling products native to their own countries.

–By LISA RATHKE , Associated Press

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