Entrepreneur

About Me

My Name Is Agnes Vivian but Vivian is what many call me.. I come from a place known as kano plains in Nyanza Province Kenya.. My home is at Ahero Tura Village .I come from a humble family of 6 siblings. I am married with 2 beautiful children a 8year old boy and a 13 month old daughter.I work as a Customer Care associate for Bridge international academies. I started my business to supplement my income. With two children and siblings dependent on me there's a lot to be bought, purchased and bills to be paid for. Also coming from a family where my mum is a primary school teacher and not paid as much i have a
responsibility of helping out with my siblings so farming is a major lifeline

My Business

Coming from an area known of “failed” Rice farming (Ahero)
my mum and i took the mandate of using the irrigation
scheme as a lifeline for a source of income. I started Mixed
farming (Mboga both European and traditional) .Capsicum
(green bell peppers)., tomatoes and Onions and yellow
passion fruit by the riverbank of Nyando river. We have a
farm at the river that we use but we also rent 1 other farm
for about 5,000 shillings every three months.. The reason I
decided to do mixed farming was so that when one crop is
out of season another is blooming so we do not have the
land left empty.
Farming is a good source of income in our area since its
mostly dry and the people appreciate fresh farm produce.
Since I am on full time employment and not able to travel
frequently, we have a farm manager who is paid something
small to help take care of the farm.When free i travel over
the weekend to oversee the progress of the farms. During
dry season we pump water from the river. I invested in 2
generated water pumps to assist with this.
During harvesting period we do not take our product to the
market to cut on transportation expenses but we let the
buyers come to us. They are at the farm as early as 6.am to
get the producethemselves. For all mbogas(leafy
vegetables) we sell per sack at a rate of between1000-1500,
for tomatoes and onions , green bell peppers(hoho) we sell
per crate between 700-1800 depending on season and
product demand. We have set aside specific days for the
harvesting to give breathing time to the crops.
We get our advice from the local horticulturalist and they
also advise us on the best product i.e manure and
ferterlizers to use for our crops. Our main expense goes to
ploughing the land either by tractor or a yolk pulled by
cows, Fertilizers and fuel for the generator.
My main aim of getting a loan is to expand our business .
By this I mean rent more land, get more seeds, plant more
crops hence more returns. I joined Zidisha to help my dream
come true I am also planning to venture into rice farming as
I have tried it before.
I do believe a great mind is a great potential but only when
the ideas are put in action . This world needs risk takers
and big dreamers doesn’t it?

Loan Proposal

The plans for my zidisha loan is that am going to use it as part of expansion for my business. The breakdown of my loan will be as follows.
5,000 to pay for another 1 acre farm for a 3 month Duration for expansion
3500-Purchase Fertilizers
4000- Go towards seeds and seddlings
1500 to go towards Fuel for water pumps for the period.
500-Miscelleneous including payment of farm help .I know it may look weird me giving an actual breakdown but i believe having a solid budget is a sure and more organised way way of getting things done

Show original English  

Feedback

Loan Info

Lenders