Another cow for my dairy business

Florence

Limuru, Kenya

19% repaid

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How it Works

Entrepreneur

Name

Florence

Member since

July 2014

On-time repayments

345 installments • 52%

About Me

My name is Florence Wanjiku, born in Kiambu County in central Kenya. I come from a family of 8 where I am the 6th born. My parents (both deceased) were small scale farmers who worked very hard to provide for the big family. I am a mother of 3 children - all boys aged 25, 17 and 14. The last two are still in school and the first born just cleared college early this year.

I went to local schools for my primary and secondary education and later joined high school for my advanced level. I then did a course in accounts and I later secured a job as a civil servant.

I also do livestock keeping to supplement my income and this enables me to meet my household expenses. I have kept dairy cows through zero grazing method due to the small size of my land.

I am a staunch Christian and a very active member of my church.

My Business

As stated above, I am a livestock farmer who uses zero grazing method. This is putting the cows in a shed and feeding them within the enclosure. I normally feed them with napier grass and wheat bran which I source from local sellers.

Due to the small size of my piece of land, I normally buy the grass from my neighbors who have are in this business. We cut the grass manually and transport it on my back due to lack of other modes of transport.

The terrain of this place is very rough and the best mode of transport is using a donkey. I have planned to buy a donkey for this purpose but due to competing needs, I have always shelved the idea until now that I have this opportunity to get credit from Zidisha.

Loan Proposal

As mentioned above, I have been changing my herd from fresian to jersey cows. This has been a gradual change and I now want to buy another dairy cow to complete the change. This cow will cost me around 500 USD which is what I am borrowing here.

This change will go a long way in achieving my goals since I will be able to do my farming in more efficient and cost effective manner. This will increase my milk production which will translate into more sales hence more profitability.

Thank you.