Tea farming project

Entrepreneur

About Me

I am 24 years old, from a family of five and a mother of one child. My childhood and education were full of challenges; my parents had difficulties raising my school fees and I had to engage in small entrepreneurial activities like selling vegetables. I was also lucky to get into university through partial government sponsorship where I studied bachelor of commerce. I can describe myself as an upcoming entrepreneur with big dreams. After unsuccessful attempts to obtain employment, I started farming as a business. I begun with a loaned cattle and through the proceeds I made from sale of milk, I begun renting tea bushes and hence tea farming. I am still at the start up stage and I hope to become established with time. I live in an area with great potential for agriculture but due to lack of adequate finances to invest in agriculture, majority of people remain poor. In addition, majority of people are illiterate with the rate of school dropout increasing by day. I would like to change this situation, starting with myself and motivate other young persons in my area to engage in farming so as to reduce poverty and crime. As Napoleon Hill once said, "if you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” A lot of my free time I use it in volunteer work and in helping other people. I love and play basketball and I believe I have unexploited talent in singing. I love outdoor activities as well as watching movies during weekends. I also watch business documentaries and read motivational pieces. I hope and look forward to a future that I will engaged in large-scale farming.

My Business

I am engaged in dairy and tea farming. My dairy farming venture consists of one cow that produces 4.5 liters per day. This translates to an annual gross income of about 898.88USD (80,000KES). This amount is little, especially when I subtract the expenses and other overhead costs. My plan is to purchase a more productive cattle that will allow me realized better profits. This is one reason I seek your assistance. Milk in my area is in great demand and when I have a better cattle I will definitely make profits. In regards to my tea farming business , I rent tea bushes for at least three years and sell plucked tea (tea leaves) to KTDA, an organization that markets tea for Kenyan farmers. KTDA then pays us for the kilograms sold. Some amount is paid monthly and the main payment is made annually. Renting tea bushes reduces my profit margin. Therefore, my aim in regards to tea farming is to have my own tea bushes. Financial support to rent more tea bushes would allow me to obtain that goal quicker. The annual income from tea sales varies. In 2014 , I had a gross annual income of about 674USD (60,000KES). As highlighted above, I am in a position to repay the loan from the proceeds of my two venture. Your support will be helpful to me and I will be very grateful.

Loan Proposal

As I had mentioned earlier, I do tea and dairy farming as a business. Although the two venture generate income, I a face some challenges. In tea farming, paying workers on time and purchasing fertilizers at the right time is a great challenge. This is because I receive the main payment of my sales after 12 months and only a small fraction of the payment is sent monthly. These two factors have a direct bearing on my earnings. It is worth to note that I have to supplement the tea plants with fertilizers specifically during rainy seasons. With the loan, I will pay workers on time, purchase fertilizers and meet other overheads involved in tea farming. Indeed, the money will be very helpful to me and to many other persons depending on me for their livelihood.

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