Irrigation pipes, fertililzers and pesticides for large-scale tomato farm

Crispin

Kahawa West, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Crispin

Member since

February 2014

On-time repayments

254 installments  •  96%

About Me

honest christian living in the outskirts of Nairobi Kahawa west.i have a wife and one son,1 Year,4 months old.i am an electrical engineer with a bachelors degree in the same.i work on a permanent job as an assistant engineer but has been frustrating to support daily life with little income from the profession.To counter this,i do farming during my free time but take it seriously since it is more beneficial to me than the permanent job.i would like to expand my projects on horticultural growing and would like some little funding to add up to my savings.my savings are directed towards purchase of farm equipments and inputs to expand my project as i want to go commercial and full time farming.Currently,my wife is not employed and this has also been a challenge to me.i would like to help her start a business of her own so that we contribute to our bills together and also empower her financially.

My Business

i get most of my income from farming where i grow tomatoes and vegetables which have ready market.i also have chicken in my farm who are laying and selling over 10trays of kienyeji eggs a week which are on demand currently.i also have a dairy cattle and selling 10litres a day and hope to expand this by having a better producing cow.To improve the milk production,i have planted some barley on my farm so that i can start embracing the hydroponics farming technique once i harvest it.all these products that i sell are purchased at farm gate and are ordered and i have never experienced loss as a result of lack of buyers.i have employed three farm hands who help me manage the farm.i trained them as i have extensive knowledge on agribusiness.

Loan Proposal

dear lenders. I already have benefited from two loans from you people,thanks for that assistance.it has been of great help to me for i can now do farming in a more large land than when i started.God bless you with more.when i started asking for my first loan to be funded of $50, i was working on a plot(less than an eighth of an acre.after harvesting that period, i later moved to a quarter an acre land(leased) where after starting it with profits from previously funded venture,i requested a second loan of $196 which assisted me to boost my remaining part of the last season.Though i faced some hitch within the course of that project,i was able to reap big and now i can afford to do farming on one and a half acres of land all on tomatoes.it is a great wonderful feeling an am optimistic that this will be a good harvest for me come Jan/Feb 2015. i currently have 1 and a half acres of land on tomatoes and another 1 and a half acres on green maize too. I had estimated that my savings would cater for management of these farms but then other shortcomings cut short my plans.As i told you in previous loans that my dad has been ill for a while and am the sole breadwinner in my small family.Also rains are not sufficient as expected for this season.As i post this,we are preparing to lay my dad to rest as he passed on on 27th morning this month(last Thursday) on his way to hospital.we are on burial preparation.So i am posting this loan application to purposely boost my farming project in purchasing some pipe for irrigation,fertilizers and pesticides for pest control.the total cost for these material amounts to around $400 and the remaining amount will cater for emergencies which are usual thing in farming.like last season we had an emergent pest known as tuta absoluta whose control was expensive but through zidisha loan,i managed to control it.my dreams are to buy my own land after next year's sales and establish my home and farm since currently am leasing farms for my projects and through your sincere and never failing assistance,i am sure i will achieve my dreams.Thanks

Feedback

2

None

None



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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$484.00

Date disbursed

Dec 5, 2014

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

53 months

Lenders

investor

Candiac, Canada

H

hwwijono

Jakarta, Indonesia

JimVandegriff

Trinidad, California, United States

J

jjonas

berlin, Germany

G

grahamfamily

Guildford, United Kingdom

KM

British Columbia, Canada, Canada

S

SvenWaage

Stavanger, Norway

ads68

Melbourne, Australia

Bobrm2k3

Charleston, United States

Cricketca

San Jose, United States

calvero

Bergen, Norway

N

nba1999

Beijing, China

neocodesoftware

vancouver, Canada

Zal0m0n

Atlantis!!!! x), Mauritania

Lambie

Perth, Australia

xtrahardware

Cazenovia, United States

markpearson

Portsmouth, United Kingdom

E

E

Marin county, United States

H

Haavard

Bergen, Norway

E

elourenco

Porto, Portugal

dlpringle

Denver, United States

T

thebonseung

Republic of Korea

J

janakan

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Z

zvrk2014

Brookline, MA, United States

pvilliger

Zurich, Switzerland

Matching Fund

Sterling, United States

Paul Buchheit

Mountain View, United States

K

Karpet

Faroe Islands

T

tiojoca

Portugal

A

ajayhk

San Jose, United States

Vesa

Helsinki, Finland

S

SaraNT

United States

Mikers

Netherlands

P

pdm083

United States

LouisB

ZIDISHA, Mozambique

J

JessicaAna

Maputo, United States

ToddTho

World Wide, United States

LutianaPablo

Rome, Italy

S

Stephan

Netherlands

DR

Daniel R

Berlin, Germany

AH

Alex Huxley

Ellesmere Port, United Kingdom

D

dsfranz

Gaeta, Italy

Kriszti

Houston, TX, United States

T

Tom

Germany

Robert

Sweden

Ask Crispin 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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  • Crispin    Apr 5, 2019

    I want to clear the balance by end of this month of April

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  • Crispin    Jun 5, 2017

    I feel that I can now give back more. Things are starting to normalize

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  • Wendy Emlyn    Mar 14, 2016

    Hi, is there any news of Salome Njoroge, whom you invited? She is a long way behind with her repayments, and she is not replying on the discussion board. Please can you talk to her and ask her to get in touch with Zidisha to sort her payments out.
    Thanks,
    Wendy

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    • Crispin    Apr 6, 2016

      ok noted.i will contact her and notify you of her progress.Last time i checked on her she promised to settle the payment and clear the loan but will follow up now that she never honored her promise.thanks and sorry for the inconvenience

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  • Crispin    Jan 13, 2016

    I have been struggling to keep things on track after loosing my job but now that i am in another,things are starting to normalize and hopefully will complete this loan earlier than indicated.thanks for the patience and understanding.God bless you all

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  • KM    Jan 1, 2016

    Happy new year to you!

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  • KM    Aug 22, 2015

    Thank-you for keeping up with your repayments.

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  • KM    May 10, 2015

    I'm sorry that you have been having trouble keeping a job, but it's good news that you've been able to control the pests on your farm. I look forward to learning how your harvest goes.

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  • Crispin    May 9, 2015

    the season was not that good though i never made losses.but due to loss of my job, the income was quickly drained because of my bills but managed to still carry on with the project with a smaller portion of the farm. i have a new job now on which am settling down and also the farm is doing well.not far from harvest time.

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  • Crispin    May 9, 2015

    my budget still tight.After i lost my dad i lost my job too but luckily,i secured another job this month.currently i'm still trying to settle down though tough but hope end month will be a brighter day for me.Sorry for the inconvenience

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  • Corsmas    May 3, 2015

    Dear Lenders and zidisha team, I spoke to Nyaga today as regards his arrears but he told me that he was preparing to pay and would let me know upon making the payment

    Corsmas.

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  • Crispin    Jan 4, 2015

    hi all.As i had posted earlier,there is heavy infestation of thrips and mites which are turning hectic to control as per an agronomist's advice.I am also having tough time trying to prevent blight but am now at least able to control it.I suspended the purchasing of irrigation pipes due to demand of money to maintain the crop in good state.This is why i request my lenders to bear with me for this change for the next 4-6 weeks and i resume to my initial installment or even clear the loan earliest possible.sorry for inconvenience and promise all will be back well soon.Thanks

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  • Crispin    Dec 20, 2014

    Hi lenders!am still thankful and forever be for your support.my farm is doing great though some delay after the 2 weeks duration i was off the farm to lay my dad to rest.am back and working hard to make the plants catch up.they are good though.the challenge is blight,mites and aphids.....and the other problem is the pest tuta absoluta.they are really costing me a great deal now that there is to much heat which is giving them some conducive environment to cling on to my green plants but i will win over them.As for the irrigation pipes,i will still use the old ones and add more next season to save funds for these pests and disease control.thanks alot guys.my head is high coz of you.God bless you all.

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    • KM    Dec 30, 2014

      Hello Crispin, I'm sorry to learn that your father passed on.
      and that you are having trouble with controlling pests on your farm. I know that here, sometimes people purchase "ladybugs" animals.nationalgeographic....
      to eat aphids in their small vegetable gardens, but I see that they are not natural to Kenya, perhaps there is another natural predator of aphids and other animal pests that you can find to release? I have also read that neem oil can disrupt the lifecycle of tuta absoluta. I am interested to learn what you have found to be effective in your pest control.
      I wish you a happy new year.

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      • Crispin    Jan 4, 2015

        Happy new year to you too Kilmeny. Thanks for your concern and advice.I will put it into test and give you the feed back.Thanks a lot.

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  • Crispin    Dec 5, 2014

    sorry #humblehumanity for not responding to your comment in or on time.it's a good advice and i really appreciate it.i was so occupied by plans to lay my dad to rest in peace,which we as a family did yesterday.he is now at rest.thanks to all lenders and God bless you all

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  • humblehumanity    Dec 1, 2014

    Crispin, you might want to edit your profile photo as we lenders can't see it properly. Perhaps cropping the top, so we can see your face. It may help with acquiring the loan.

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  • Crispin    Nov 4, 2014

    thanks guys for your support.the clothes business was cut short but the first venture boosted my income.though it was not easy to keep track of repayments,i managed it through your patience and understanding.am now preparing myself for the next crop.i must say that i realized some substantial profit which i used to settle the loan and other daily bills and still got more to re-invest.thanks to you guys.God give you more

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  • Crispin    Oct 11, 2014

    i have had good harvest from my tomato farm and therefore wish to reschedule my loan to clear the balance.I must admit that Zidisha family is amazing for what they did to me is beyond my words can express.It's amazing how strangers trust strangers and the only way i can honor that move is by clearing what i owe them. I am now set for a bigger project coming season and it's all because of you guys.The little you gave me has turned my income into a more stable one.Thanks to Zidisha family.God bless you abundantly

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  • Crispin    Aug 28, 2014

    hello lenders.As i had earlier posted here,i have started receiving some income from the farm and for now things are positive.I will be clearing my loans so.for now i decided to withhold the clothing business after the raid by thugs and embarked on agriculture.we are now almost nearing a full harvest season and i can tell the farm looks wonderful and we expect good returns.thanks for your patience and understanding.I will be clearing my loan soon in the course of next month.I am visiting the farm this Saturday and will post the latest photos here on Monday.Am happy guys,thanks

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  • Crispin    Jul 21, 2014

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  • Crispin    Jul 21, 2014

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  • Crispin    Jul 21, 2014

    more pictures from my farm

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