A loan helped this 2x Kiva borrower buy a van for transporting produce from the farm to costumers!


Darius's story

I grew up in a small African village in Liberia with my parent. Farming was the only major source of income for our family. I was the only male child of my father, and I had to go with him every day, learning alongside him on the farm as we worked. Our way of farming was pure traditional. Through this process, my late father was able to send me to school. Over time, I became more interested because that's where all of our family support was coming from. When I completed high school, I told my Dad that I was going to college to study Agriculture so that I would return to help improve our farming system, ultimately improving the lives of our family members. When I graduated from college, I had the opportunity to work with the United States Of America for International Development (USAID) as a District Agriculture Coordinator. My interest and passion grew more than ever before. I worked with lots of communities people, and the majority of the people I worked with were female.

In 2015, I had the opportunity to travel to the United States of America. I was most concerned about my career, because after two years, I wouldn't see any farm land until I relocated my family to Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 2017. Through networking, I got connected to Feed Iowa First's garden program (a local nonprofit dedicated to increasing food security in Iowa). During that time, my wife and I did a survey on traditional local vegetables and we saw that there was a huge demand in the African community living locally. The first group of African people we asked about how they purchase local vegetables, they told us that they can't find it in Cedar Rapids until people travel to Minnesota, which is 8 hours roundtrip. From that point, my motivation started.

From 2021-2024, my motivation and passion has increased more than ever before. The African community, HACAP, Feed Iowa First, and Field to Family have also been great customers to our farm business.

Many thanks go to Kiva team for their first support to my farm business through the loan program. It really help my business to get started. Food security is a national global issue that everyone has to get involve.

With more support as Kiva is doing, and with more opportunity to land access, our business will do more. My business had become something that the African community can depend on for local vegetables.


This loan is special because:

It supports a small business owner with 0%-interest, zero-fee capital.



Loan details


About Nupolu's Emerging Farms LLC

Industry: Agriculture
Years in operation: 1 year - 3 years
Website: nupolunef.org

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Loan details