Potato farming

Rachel

Nakuru, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Rachel

Member since

January 2015

On-time repayments

307 installments  •  77%

About Me

My full name is Rachel Wanjiru Njuguna. I am married with one son. I grew up on a farm with my 4 siblings. My dad is a farmer and he has been very kind in mentoring me and showing me how to go about farming. I have done potato farming for the last two years. I started with one acre and last year I did two acres.
I have a diploma in marketing management. Apart from farming, I work as an accounts clerk in a hotel.
I started potato farming with my savings. My dad encouraged me to think outside of the box and start farming.
In 2011, I gave birth to my son and I decided to be a stay at home mum until January 2014 so that my son could get the best care. It was not easy because my husband's income was not much. I started saving from the money he left me for daily use. I joined women's groups and this has really helped me to save and support my family.
From this experience, I have become very passionate about women's empowerment and I really encourage the women I interact with to save and work hard. I hope one day to have an organization that supports women.

My Business

I do potato farming. Potatoes are always in demand in Kenya. Apart from the french fries which are consumed daily in hotels, potatoes have many other uses. I chose potato farming because, having grown up in a farm, I have seen how farming can change peoples' lives. My dad was able to educate the 5 of us through farming. Farming also has good returns when done properly.
The typical costs in potato farming are: seeds, fertilizer, labour and pesticides. One spends like 35,000 in an acre and you get a profit of 30,000 to 40,000 within 3 months. I use the profit I get in educating my son, for reinvestment and for house expenses.
My plan is to be able to do more than 50 acres with time. I am requesting this loan because I believe I can start small and go very far.

Loan Proposal

Apart from y 8 to 5 job as an accountant i depend on farming to boost my finances. Farming has really helped me towards becoming financially independent. i will use my next loan to expand on this business.
i will continue doing potato farming since it always has a ready market and it is used on a daily basis in most homes and hotels in Kenya.
i recently started supporting a some boys who stay in a children s home in Nairobi. i bought them school bags and shoes. Getting the loan will improve my financial situation so that i can continue supporting the boys with whatever i can. i will also be able to give my son and my family an improved livelihood.

LOAN BUDGET
LAND LEASING - 450 DOLLARS
FERTILIZER - 650 DOLLARS
SEEDS - 450 DOLLAR
LABOR - 420 DOLLARS
PESTICIDES - 750 DOLLAR
TRANSPORT- 150 DOLLARS

Show original English  

About Me

my name are Rachel wanjiru. I am a farmer and a businesswoman. I am also employed as an accountant.
I am a single mum with one child who is now 8 years old. I separated from my husband 2 years ago and it has not been easy especially financially.
I work Soo hard to provide for my son so that he can have a good education and life in general.
This year has been particularly challenging because of the economic situation in Kenya and also the weather change

My Business

The last loan I got really helped me financially. The weather was not good the the crop production was not good.
I also started chicken farming in August and that helped a lot with my financial situation.
This year in January I opened a shoe shop and it has been doing very well.
I also have a monthly salary where I am employed as an accountant.

Loan Proposal

Apart from y 8 to 5 job as an accountant i depend on farming to boost my finances. Farming has really helped me towards becoming financially independent. i will use my next loan to expand on this business.
i will continue doing potato farming since it always has a ready market and it is used on a daily basis in most homes and hotels in Kenya.
i recently started supporting a some boys who stay in a children s home in Nairobi. i bought them school bags and shoes. Getting the loan will improve my financial situation so that i can continue supporting the boys with whatever i can. i will also be able to give my son and my family an improved livelihood.

LOAN BUDGET
LAND LEASING - 450 DOLLARS
FERTILIZER - 650 DOLLARS
SEEDS - 450 DOLLAR
LABOR - 420 DOLLARS
PESTICIDES - 750 DOLLAR
TRANSPORT- 150 DOLLARS

Feedback

4

None

None

  • Katja    Mar 29, 2017

    Thank you for repaying that fast and Wish you all The best!

    Log in to reply • Share


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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$2,822.00

Date disbursed

Oct 7, 2018

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

7 months

Lenders

S

stroll

Stockholm, Sweden

Pere

Barcelona, Spain

Tavin

Ottawa, Canada

JessieD

Alexandria, Va, United States

B

bileiro

Mandaluyong, Philippines

ads68

Melbourne, Australia

A

Andy

Berlin, United States

G

glh25

Winooski, United States

soniad

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Paul Buchheit

Mountain View, United States

mepster

San Francisco, Ca, United States

TyWee

Manila, Philippines

Matthias

Frankfurt Am Main, Germany

Anna Hoad

Toronto, Canada

JT

John Tabacchi

United States

Richard

Shrewsbury, United Kingdom

JC

JD Conley

United States

MR

Michiel Rauws

San Francisco, Netherlands

Pedro R-C

Cambridge, United States

DL

Dunja Lazic

United States

NG

Nick Gorrell

Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia

Tom Eggert

Madison, United States

Joseph Abell

Brisbane, Australia

Ren

Minneapolis/StPaul, United States

M

Marama

Australia

Day Family

Melbourne, Australia

B

BSM

France

NH

Nancy Hull

United States

Alex

Virginia, United States

JH

Joseph Hwang

Houston, United States

W

Will

United States

Keith Chan

Toronto, Canada

Daveycee

The Hague, Netherlands

S

SallyM

United States

Mark Rowlatt

Peterborough, UK, United Kingdom

Carrie

Arlington, MA, United States

Theo

Zürich, Switzerland

Ronald

Dättwil, Switzerland

Raoul

Germany

T

TP

United States

MW

Matt Wade

Switzerland

G

Greg

Sydney, Australia

Amon Munyaneza

Kigali Rwanda, United States

CH

Christian Holck

United Kingdom

J

Netherlands

B

Ben

United States

L

Lisa

United States

D

David

United States

Sla Tyr

Switzerland

SM

Scott Miller

United States

alexalexalex

Berlin, Germany

S

Shayla

United States

LD

Lisa Dresner

United States

Ask Rachel 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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  • Janice    Mar 19, 2021

    The member has cited about low business returns as she was not expecting about.

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    • Rachel    Mar 23, 2021

      Is it possible for my adjusted amount to go lower than 1200? Been trying that and it never works

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  • Rachel    Mar 2, 2021

    Reduced source of income

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  • Janice    Feb 7, 2021

    Rachel will be settling her past dues next week,and post a comment to lenders about her business progress.

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  • Rachel    Jan 28, 2021

    Lack of stable financial income

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  • Rachel    Dec 4, 2020

    Loss of source of income.

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  • Rachel    Nov 24, 2020

    Loss of source of income

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  • Rachel    Oct 13, 2020

    The place I was employed and also had a business were demolished by the government. I have no source of income at the moment.

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  • Janice    Oct 1, 2020

    The borrower has challenges with her business as the sales has dropped drastically due to the negative economicimpacted by covid 19.

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  • Rachel    Sep 13, 2020

    Difficult financial times.

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  • Janice    Aug 20, 2020

    Rachel has promised to send her late loan arrears in few days coming.

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  • Rachel    Jul 12, 2020

    Financial difficulty

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  • Janice    Jul 9, 2020

    Rachel will be reschedule her weekly payment downwards for the next few weeks.

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  • Rachel    May 18, 2020

    Not working because of the pandemic

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  • Rachel    Apr 4, 2020

    Business forced to close down due to the corona virus pendemic.

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  • Madesto    Mar 13, 2020

    i called rael and she promised to repay her arrears as soon as possible

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  • Rachel    Feb 25, 2020

    Financial difficulty

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  • Rachel    Jan 18, 2020

    Hard economic times.

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  • Rachel    Dec 26, 2019

    Can't manage the original amount because of financial difficulty.

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  • Rachel    Nov 9, 2019

    Slow economic situation.

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  • Rachel    Oct 2, 2019

    Hard economic times

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