Purchasing dairy cow for milk-supplying business

Bramwel

Sendera, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Bramwel

Member since

August 2013

On-time repayments

174 installments  •  92%

About Me

My names are Bramwel Krembu Cheroben. I am 24 years of age and belong to a beautiful family of 10 children; five girls and five boys with I being the lastborn and both my parents are still there. My parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cheroben are retired officers of The Salvation Army church where they worked for more than 30 years. They were enjoying their retirement until November 2009 when my mother was discovered to be suffering from throat cancer. It was a very sad moment but God stood with us. She underwent an operation where her voice box had to be removed since it was badly infected. She was successfully operated on and underwent a series of radiotherapy sessions to kill the cancer cells. Right now she is much better and even though she is voiceless, she is still soldiering on for those who love and adore her very much. I cleared my secondary education in 2008 and served as a school captain in Chavakali High School from 2007-2008.My interest in farming started developing in 2010 when my sister Esther started rearing commercial layers from kenchic. As I assisted her manage the chicken, and got to learn a lot concerning vaccinating and general management of poultry. She also constructed a tomato green house and due to my interest and a lot of online research I quickly learnt how things get done in green house farming. It was a very profitable venture but expansion was a problem for her since in Eldoret land is very expensive. I moved to my native land in MT. Elgon with one goal, and that was to build my own business empire founded in agriculture. I settled upcountry with my parents and since we possess about 20 acres of land here, I stand a good chance to perfect on my projects and do a lot of expansion and be of help financially to my aging parents. Since land is available and there is an all year round river flowing within our territories, farming couldn’t be any better. I opted to venture into farming because it is very profitable should one invest wisely and its an honest job. I wanted to do something different and create employment for others rather than being bitter with life since I couldn’t secure a well paying white collar job or even risk losing my job any time. In farming you are your own boss and it’s a very flexible venture. My father rears cattle in the farm and also practices crop farming with maize being the main crop being grown. I want to change this farm through practicing modern farming and by being able to do irrigation during the dry season to maximize our returns. I know its not an easy job transforming this land into a modern and highly productive land but I believe beyond any reasonable doubt that I am up to the task because getting started is normally the biggest challenge and since I already have both my feet on the ground and with the support of my family a positive change is slowly being realized.

My Business

I have been in Agri-business since 2011 when I relocated to my upcountry home in MT. Elgon District, Bungoma county. I have been very passionate about farming for years and my determination to build my own business empire founded in agriculture, led me to my native land in Elgon because of availability of land. Agriculture is all about land and since we own 20 acres or so of land here and water is always available, I saw a perfect place to execute my projects even though I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy journey. Just like any other business, farming has many challenges. Before I managed to put up my green house, I used to practice open field tomato farming. I encountered many problems growing tomatoes in the open field because of the unpredictable weather changes which cause diseases to the crop especially when there is too much rain, hail stones and also fog. The tomatoes also get attacked by pests and even when they are ready for harvest, birds come to feed on the tomato fruits before you harvest them. It is for these reasons that I saw it wise to construct a green house where I can comfortably grow high breed tomatoes that are protected from adverse weather conditions and a long time quality harvest is assured. I spent twenty eight thousand Kenyan shillings to buy the green house polythene paper that was going to enable me construct a fifteen meters long by six meters wide green house. The green house has a carrying capacity of six hundred seedlings. I have planted high breed tomatoes known as Anna F1 and im guaranteed a whole year harvest under good management. I have an upper hand with this project here in MT.Elgon because not so many people have ventured into green house production. Many people who grow tomatoes here practice open field tomato production and its always seasonal and that means I have a good market opportunity because green house tomatoes are healthy and my clients will be assured of a constant supply whole year round
Apart from tomato production, im also engaged in poultry farming. I purchased ten local hens and a good rooster from my neighbors for a start. I keep local hens for eggs and meat production. Local hen meat is selling well because it is very nutritious just like the eggs but the venture also comes along with many challenges. The birds take almost six to eight months before maturing and ready to lay eggs, and that is a very long time. The other thing about this poultry farming that has been posing a challenge is that I practice free range poultry farming where the hens roam around fending for themselves and as a result they come in contact with unvaccinated neighbors’ flock hence they get infections and die eventually. Also as a result of too much roaming, some hens end up laying eggs in bushes causing me a loss and even some get attacked by roaming dogs and get killed. Egg laying when it comes to these local hens is not assured since they rarely lay eggs on daily basis. It is for these reasons that I now want to fully commercialize my poultry project and this means getting good layers from Kenchic that I’m able to feed indoors, vaccinate and im assured of daily egg collection. I already have a good spacious poultry house that has a concrete floor and proper roofing just awaiting stocking. I must confess that I have done a lot and made some achievements including buying my own Friesian heifer from my little savings. All I need right now is somebody or an organization that will believe in me and give me the financial support I need to upgrade my projects and transform this farm. If I get funded with fifty thousand Kenyan shillings, i can start with 100-150 layers and sustain them for four months until they start laying eggs hence the project becomes self sufficient. I’m doing all this so that apart from attaining my financial

Loan Proposal

As i have been pursuing my venture in poultry, a new idea struck and i discovered that the restaurant that i supply eggs with, has no reliable milk supplier. after talking to the management, i was assured of ready market for milk at the restaurant should i be able to supply at-least fifty liters of milk on daily basis. I took up the challenge mid last month and so far things are going smoothly. I get milk from reliable farmers around my home then sell it to the restaurant at a profit. This has not only ensured constant milk supply to the restaurant, but has boosted the farmers' livelihood since i buy their milk at a good price and they get their money at exactly end month without failure. They are very happy with my partnership with them since they were falling victims to scrupulous middlemen who took advantage of them. It is from this perspective that i thought it wise to diversify my farming venture so that apart from supplying eggs, i can also chip in, in the dairy business and also have my milk delivered to the same restaurant. My plan is to get a good dairy cow that can produce at least ten liters of milk per day. I'm in the process of constructing a zero grazing unit for it and also take an insurance cover for my animal should an unfortunate event occur. It is for this reason that i come again to you my lenders for your support in this venture.

Feedback

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$428.00

Date disbursed

Feb 16, 2015

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

10 months

Lenders

C

chkuo

Taipei, Taiwan

P

Philippe

Adliswil, Switzerland

T

tloureiro

Pfungstadt, Germany

Zidisha

Sterling, United States

BJ

Brandon Joz

North Carolina, United States

A

anonymous123

United States

DLarson

Morris, United States

Jouni

Finland

Namaste250

Pittsford, United States

ads68

Melbourne, Australia

S

SabresFan

Oro Valley, United States

fairspirit

Utrecht, Netherlands

K

KnutG

Bergen, Norway

Cricketca

San Jose, United States

xtrahardware

Cazenovia, United States

Richard Griebe

La Jolla, United States

Shemuel

New Jersey, United States

Matching Fund

Sterling, United States

Paul Buchheit

Mountain View, United States

joshuacollinson

Vienna, Austria

mepster

San Francisco, Ca, United States

Mikers

Netherlands

Bryan

Houston, United States

M

M.Umar

Pakistan

A

adamdreaming

United States

B

BigRosie

United States

gugudu

Austria

K

Kristiina

All Countries

KM

Kirsty M

United Kingdom

Cassian Opara

London / Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Fabian Linzberger

Vienna, Austria

KC

Kevin Cox

United States

RH

Rich Herzig

United States

ES

Ed Sikorski

United States

Richard

Shrewsbury, United Kingdom

Humble Bundle Community

San Francisco, United States

Ask Bramwel a question about this project, share news and photos of your own, or send a simple note of thanks or inspiration.

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  • Bramwel    Nov 23, 2016

    Thank you my lenders for funding my loan. This loan will help me purchase a motorbike that will partly help me supply chicks to my clients and transport my animal feeds. It will also be generating an extra income by employing someone to run my transportation business. I thank u a lot and God bless u.

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  • Richard Griebe    Nov 6, 2016

    Congratulations for repaying your loan early, Bramwel. You are a five star entrepreneur, the kind I feel honored to lend to. I know raising chickens isn´t easy but you are doing very well, succeeding at your enterprise.

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  • Bramwel    Nov 6, 2016

    I started brooding chicks and selling them to clients. the hustle was tough but the resilience iv built and ambition kept me on the move. the business is very promising and taking it a notch higher is my next goal. thank u my lenders.

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  • Richard Griebe    Oct 4, 2016

    Dear Bramwel,
    It looks like your chicken raising operation is going well and you are remaining current on your loan. Good for you and thanks from your lenders.
    Richard

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  • Bramwel    Nov 15, 2015

    These are the 300 chicks that i bought and managing using the loan.They are doing well and will be ready for sale in a month's time.

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  • Bramwel    Nov 6, 2015

    Thank you my lenders again for supporting me financially. I received the requested amount of 58,000 KES.I have already placed an order for 300 day old improved indegeneous chicks which i will brood for one month then sell them to farmers to upgrade their flock. I mentor them apart from selling them chicks. Thank you once more. Be blessed.

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  • Bramwel    Oct 29, 2015

    Thank you lenders for believing on my project. I am placing an order for 300 day old chicks that im going to brood for one month then sell them to farmers. The chickens are improved indegeneous,so this means high productivity and good returns. Thank you once more.

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  • Charles    Oct 28, 2015

    Hi Bramwel,am touched by your Chicken rearing project.I would wish to know how to rear chicken.
    If you don't mind help me with some ideas please.My Email, [email protected] on Facebook find me as,Mucy Carlos.
    Thank you.

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  • Bramwel    Oct 14, 2015

    There are many potentials in regard to poultry farming. i started buying day old chicks,brood them carefully for a month then sell them. The business took off very well and the clientelle varries from indivual farmers to groups who cant handle the day old chicks. This is my bext project should my loan push through. Thank you my lenders for being with me through this journey.

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  • Bramwel    Oct 14, 2015

    There are many potentials in regard to poultry farming. i started buying day old chicks,brood them carefully for a month then sell them. The business took off very well and the clientelle varries from indivual farmers to groups who cant handle the day old chicks. This is my bext project should my loan push through. Thank you my lenders for being with me through this journey.

    Log in to reply • Share
  • Bramwel    Mar 16, 2015

    Both my poultry and dairy projects are doing well. my chickens have started laying eggs and im still milking my cow despite the dry conditions. Thank you my lenders. Im feeling blessed.

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  • Bramwel    Feb 22, 2015

    I managed to buy a good dairy cow that i have assesed with the help of a vetinarian and under good management she can produce upto 7 liters of milk a day. she is a good breeder cow.Just what i needed to start my dairy farming. I call her ZIDISHA.

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  • Boniface    Feb 21, 2015

    I love your work Bramwel and i'm also planning to raise chicken.I hope to get your advice then! Good work and good luck.

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    • Bramwel    Feb 22, 2015

      Thank you Boniface. I assure you that it is a profitable venture. With some adcice and commitment to your work,you will appreciate the venture.Whenever you are ready,dont hesitate to inform me. All the best brother.

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  • Bramwel    Feb 7, 2015

    Rearing chicken for commercial purposes is tough venture but non the less very rewarding should you get it done the right way. it offers many options that you can exploit to maximise returns. Getting improved local chicken breed was one right move that i made. I have an option of selling an egg at ksh.30 or incubate the egg and sell a day old chick at ksh.120. Already people in my locality are excited about getting this breed and i just cant wait to start hatching. It will greatly increase their returns since Agriculture is their maib source of income. i want them to have the best quality of chicken.

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  • Bramwel    Jan 29, 2015

    my chicken

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  • Bramwel    Jan 27, 2015

    Im happy at how my investments are giving returns. my chickens are almost starting to lay eggs and in the meantime my crops have helped me service my loan on time. cnt wait to clear it and go for the next big thing. Thank you my lenders.

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  • Richard Griebe    Sep 20, 2014

    Bra we'll,
    You are the kind of responsible, hard working borrower that makes me glad I am associated with Zidisha. Raising chickens is not an easy job because you have to care for them every day and many perils can upset your plans. Thank you for the update and for sharing your pictures. Wishing you continued success with your business.

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  • Bramwel    Sep 20, 2014

    my chicken are doing well and growing fast. With good management and God's hand,i will be having my first eggs come mid december or january.

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  • camilberlin    Jul 29, 2014

    Thanks for letting us know how you are doing. Great to see the loan was helping you!

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  • Bramwel    Jul 28, 2014

    my incubator and indigeneous chicken flock.

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