David is 53 years old. He lives in Tskaltubo District with his 3 grown sons and a daughter-in-law. David requested a loan from local financial institutions several times for family business start-up, but without any success. His loan request was rejected all the time because of low income and the family’s poor living conditions.

The only source of income for the family is a small agricultural business. They have 2 milk cows and 2 calves. They produce cheese and sell locally. In addition, David owns 0.5 hectare of land where he plants different kinds of vegetables. Besides his agricultural activities, David works as a baker and gets a small monthly income. It is hardly enough food for a five member family. According to Credo estimations, the family belongs to the subsistence poor category.

David requested a loan from Credo to start-up a family business and build a greenhouse. His loan request was approved in the framework of new joint initiative of Kiva and Credo. Start-up loan program envisages a provision of business start-up and re-startup credits with soft conditions to country rural poor, which do not have access to credit products, being regarded as “high risk borrowers” because of low income. With the received credit, David will purchase all the building materials for the greenhouse. After the greenhouse is built properly, David will grow greens and the harvested products will be sold for a good price. The new business initiative, financed with the Kiva start-up loan, will significantly increase the family income and all members will improve their living conditions.