Keziah is from Kenya and she is 35 years old. She is married to Peter and together they have four children. She is a farmer and has been in the business for the past 15 years. She will use the loan amount to purchase fertilizer and seedlings to use during this planting season. She will use thee anticipated profits to pay school fees for her children.
She hopes to be among the leading farmers in her area and also improve her living standards.
Leah is a married lady, 55 years old from Kenya, blessed with five children aged between 30 and 22 years. She practices horticulture in her farm and has been in operation for a period of ten years.
This is her second loan cycle. She repaid the previous loan successfully. She wishes to use the new loan to purchase passion fruit seedlings and to prepare the land.
Leah will use her profits to help her children and expand her passion fruit farm. She hopes to live a better life and prosper in her farm.
Mutaraza Kwebisaho Group from Uganda - Jovailo is a 49-year-old divorcee with four children. Since she divorced her husband who later died, Jovailo needs income to boost her business in order to help her look after her children so that they can have a better future. She conducts business on a small scale. Her main challenges are price fluctuations, unpredictable seasons and dishonest clients who buy goods on credit and never pay.
Evas, another group member, wants to buy more goats to trade as well as beans, maize, nuts and bananas. Her husband is unemployed, so she is the one looking after the family. Price fluctuations and foot-and-mouth disease are her major challenges.
The women are grateful to Ugafode and the group for having helped them to be independent in terms of finance. They are now doing well, and their children and families are well cared for thanks to sensitization received through the group.
Nafi's Group from Senegal - The Banc Villageois (Village Lending Group) that houses this group was founded on September 28, 2012. It is made up of 27 women from the same area who work mainly in sales, agriculture and livestock fattening.
The featured borrower Madame Nafi is a 44 year old married woman. She is the mother of eight children, the youngest of whom is eight. She also has a granddaughter who is three years old. She is the house mother at the outpost health clinic in the village and she has several years of experience. She practices sheep fattening concurrently. Standing up at the right of the photo, she is dressed in white and yellow flowers and is raising her left hand.
With her loan, Nafi counts on buying two sheep for fattening and hopes to resell them four or five months later to prepare for her repayment.
She participates in the family spending (school fees, clothing, food, health) to support her husband.
Marrar 'Ag n Chat', a community rural women's group in NSW plans to recognise and celebrate Australian Year of the Farmer 2012, with a "glitz and glamour" style ball to occur in October this year.
