“What I’m most proud of after receiving the loans is my children starting attending school when previously we couldn’t afford it.”
With a whack of her machete, Jovurane expertly fells several banana leaves as she tends to a small plot of land in western Uganda’s Isingiro district.
Raising and selling bananas in nearby Kampala used to be the main source of income for the mother of four, but the region’s unpredictable weather disrupted her livelihood.
“I started with farming, but it became harder when my crops dried up due to drought,” she explains as she slices another sturdy leaf.
Determined to find another way to support her family, Jovurane created new opportunities with help from Kiva loans. Now, in addition to cultivating bananas, she keeps livestock and runs a convenience store in her rural community. All of it has changed her life and those of her loved ones for the better.
“Before this loan I was struggling because I was broke,” says the entrepreneur.
“After getting to this path, things got much better for me.”
‘I wasn’t very hopeful’
After the drought depleted her income, Jovurane carefully considered what to do next.
“I decided to start a small shop because it was easy to maintain,” she recalls, drawing on her experience of working the land and understanding the challenge of starting again with new crops.
“I knew agriculture would take longer and it would take a long time to see returns.”
A good friend told her about UGAFODE, a Kiva Lending Partner in Uganda. With a special focus on rural farmers, UGAFODE disburses funding that helps support underserved communities throughout the country, including in Nakivale, Africa’s oldest refugee community.
In spite of her skepticism that she would be approved, Jovurane followed her friend’s advice to fill out the application with details about her idea for a shop and modest plans to sustain her agricultural venture.
“I requested a business and farmers loan, [but] I wasn’t very hopeful…because I didn’t know much about it,” admits Jovurane with a small shrug.
Instead of the rejection she expected, she quickly received a $1,425 loan, powered by 45 Kiva lenders around the world. Her worries about how her family would survive faded.
“When I got the loan, my mind was finally at rest. I was very relieved when I was told to pick up the money,” she recalls, adding that “the loan that I received from UGAFODE helped me to survive.”
Building on the opportunity
“I know I’m hard working and everyone in my community also knows that about me. I am the biggest pillar in my business.”
Along with launching her shop where she sells soap, sweets, rice, and other items, Jovurune was also able to purchase goats and poultry to help feed her children and husband.
“I also acquired land with the funds from the loan,” she adds, reporting that in addition to her shop income she now regularly sells eight to 10 and sometimes even 20 bunches of bananas per month.
After becoming more confident in the loan and repayment process, she applied for another to expand her business even further.
“After fully repaying my first loan, I felt so at ease. I knew I could go back and get another one and pay it back wholeheartedly because of what I witnessed it do for me the first time,” she says of the way access to financial capital allowed her businesses to grow.
“It worked in my favor.”
This second loan bought fertilizer to ensure her banana trees produced plenty of fruit and paid for something that once seemed out of reach: School fees. Now her children could receive an education and open even more opportunities for the future.
“What I’m most proud of after receiving the loans is my children starting attending school when previously we couldn’t afford it,” Jovurune says.
The small businesswoman is also pleased that because of her success, her shop can provide the people in her community with a greater variety of items.
“I’m able to buy what I want to,” she says of stocking new inventory for her friends and community.
“For example, I can shop from them weekly or even bring new and hard-to-find products closer to them.”
While her success may have been a long time coming, the farmer and shopkeeper has earned respect for her roles.
“I know I’m hard working and everyone in my community also knows that about me. I am the biggest pillar in my business.”
‘My life is so joyful’
Even after she received her first loan, Jovurane still wasn’t positive that her new businesses would make enough money to reimburse the loan officer.
“At first it was hard to make loan repayments,” she admits.
“But the second time it became so much easier for me as I invested in different ventures that were returning the money, so that by the end of month I already had the monthly installment to pay back.”
In fact, she acknowledges, she has never missed a single payment.
These days, with tuition bills, a shop to manage, and banana trees to prune, Jovurane wants others to believe in themselves and take the risk of applying for a loan.
“My life is so joyful. I have peace about joining UGAFODE. And so I advise all my friends that have failed to make ends meet in life to acquire a loan,” she says.
“It will help them do whatever they want.”
