Adding to basket
Gwiza Agric Sub Grp A is a group represented by Lea, who is 58 years old, married and a mother of three children between the ages of 18 and 35 years. She is a farmer and has been growing Irish potatoes for the past 30 years.
With the loan from Kiva, she would like to buy more Irish potato seeds to grow Irish potatoes. The profits from her business will be used to invest in expanding her rice farm, providing for the family, and paying the school fees for her children.
The agriculture sector accounts for 37% of Rwanda's gross domestic product, generates 65% of Rwanda's export revenue, and employs approximately 90% of Rwandans (as of 2009).
Despite the importance of agriculture to Rwanda and its economy, financial institutions view lending to fund agricultural activities as a high-risk proposition because the profitability of these activities is affected by weather, natural disasters, and price fluctuations. For this reason, farmers in Rwanda remain under-served by financial institutions. Urwego Bank is expanding into this market and is happy to provide Kiva lenders with the opportunity to support Rwandan farmers.
Due to the global pandemic, Urwego Bank was not able to photograph all the members, but Urwego Bank was able to get one representative for the group photo.
In this group: Celestin, Marie, Eugenie, Theophile, Vestine, Leoncie, Rose, Augustin, Lea
