Farming to educate my children

Entrepreneur

About Me

I am married and a mother of five children that depend on farming to raise and educate my children. I was not lucky to get a college education myself because money was often a challenge but I strive so that my children get education and not have to struggle like I had to while growing up. I have a daughter in college and one son in high school. I started farming to supplement my husband's earning, which is not enough to support my children education and our upkeep. And although I did not study agriculture, I learned and gained experience while doing the farming. My land, which my husband inherited from his father is huge but the scarcity of rain makes farming a difficult activity. Therefore, we depend on water from wells to do the farming. People in my are generally hard working and so I am able to handle these difficulties. We are also kind people and welcome visitors from different areas and cultures. My area has some interesting scenes that I encourage you to visits and see. My daughter who is currently in college would like to be a lecturer and my son would love to be an artist. Me eldest son graduated last year in college and has started teaching. My other two daughters are married. My hobby is farming and as a person that is active in the society and a member of a woman group, I am involved in an NGO-Government supported program that teach women about various issues on health.

My Business

My business involves cultivating mostly maize and selling the harvests locally. I have also planted fruits on my farm, which is a farming activity that is becoming popular in my area but the fruit plants are not yet mature to produce fruits. The costs of my business include labour costs, which is about 3000 to 4000 KES (about US$35 - 45) per planting season. On average, I get about 60 bags of maize per planting season and one bag sells at between 2500 KES to 3500 KES. My gross income is 150,000 to 210,000 KES (about 1,600 to 2,300 USD) per planting season. Due the scarcity of rain we are able to plant only once per year.

Loan Proposal

Because I did the planting around the end of October, I need money to pay workers to cultivate or remove weed out of the maize plantation (about $30). I also need to add fertilizers and spray the maize (which need about $70). And being January when schools are opening and I am required to pay school fees, this money will be very helpful. Maize farming depends very much on fertilizers and cultivation an so the loan will have a positive impact on the productivity of the plantation and also the profits I will make due to increased bags of maize.

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