Adding to basket
This group consists of eight group leaders of farmers in Webuye district, with Melisa selected as the Kiva representative. Melisa has volunteered to be the Kiva group representative, and is on the right of the photo with her hand raised. Farming inputs will be delivered to her and the 89 other individual farmers represented in this group. The credit consists of the necessary materials to plant ¼ acre of maize and ¼ acre of millet or sorghum. The individual farmers are not pictured here but will be receiving an average loan of 5,349 shillings.
Melisa is 52 years old and has been a farmer for 28 years. Melisa works as a farmer to provide for her five children. The community and other farmers know Melisa as friendly, hardworking, reliable, trustworthy and an experienced farmer. Other than farming, she is also involved in her community's activities, such as the women's group, savings group, prayer group, and burial committee. Melisa described her harvest last year as good, but hopes she can have an even better one with the support of One Acre Fund and the other farmers in her group.
Melisa first enrolled in One Acre Fund in 2010, and is now preparing to be a One Acre Fund farmer during the 2014 Long Rains season. Melisa joined One Acre Fund in order to get the best seed prices, the new farming methods, and the fertilizer and hybrid seeds, and earn enough to feed her family and send her children to school. She also volunteered to be a group leader and Kiva representative because she is an active community member who wants to help more farmers and spread the story about One Acre Fund farmers.
Melisa plans to use the money she earns from her next harvest to send her children to school, repair the home, save for the future, buy a cow, and invest in a business. She notes that working with One Acre Fund has lead to many benefits for One Acre Fund farmers. Melisa ’s own life was improved because she has more profits from the harvest, more farm training, and more farm group support, and was able to save money and feed the family.
Melisa and her group need the loan to cover the initial costs of purchasing the seeds and fertilizers through One Acre Fund. One Acre Fund will repay the Kiva loan on behalf of the farmers through the profits from the farmers’ harvests. One Acre Fund pre-purchases the seeds and fertilizer when prices are low, and passes the cost savings to the farmers. Throughout the planting and harvesting season, One Acre Fund also provides training and support to the farmers as they make payments back to One Acre Fund. With support from One Acre Fund and your loan, these farmers will have a chance at a successful harvest, increased profits and improved lives.
The field officer is also included in the photo and is standing on the left of the photo.
In this group: Melisa, Felistus, Susan, Abraham, Grace, Margaret, Beatrice, Rose
