“How do you say it? Yes! Flexible! Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) employees are very flexible; they understand that sometimes it’s difficult to repay a loan. From time to time they pass by to see how things are going and they also offer their advice on how to improve your business.

What I like about the bank is that they look at what is good for the family. They are very practical. It’s about improving simple living conditions like a roof over your head, electricity, clean water and school fees, but also about expanding your business. It’s not complicated and when you have a problem, you can always talk to them.

Proud to hand in my resignation

When I first met the bank’s representative, I found that getting a loan was fairly simple. So, I wanted three new cows and the bank gave me a loan facility to purchase the cows which were approximately 120 thousand shilling (1200 dollars) each.

To access the loan facilities, I used my pay slip as my collateral, since I was employed in a big agribusiness firm. As I felt stable in my agribusiness ventures and I needed to be more flexible, I handed in my resignation notice in February 2018. I felt proud to be able to do this.

Milk is the foundation of our prosperity

I talk with other women about the changes in my life. They see me doing very well, but not everybody has the courage to take a loan. Also, not every woman gets permission from her husband or has access to collateral.

Mcvin Mbesa Muia, farmer

We sell it right from the cow

As a dairy farmer, I had no special training as one can find out all about dairy farming on the internet nowadays. Plus, my husband works for the Agricultural Society of Kenya where he has gained a lot of experience in dairy farming. We also practice poultry farming but that’s for home consumption. We have two kids, my son is 16 and in a boarding school and my daughter is 8 years old. She goes to primary school in Nairobi where we live as we have an apartment in our capital.

I now have eight cows and four calves. They stay in a stable all day as they are milked trice a day. I get around 100 liters per day and I sell the milk for 50 dollar cent per liter. We don’t process the milk; we sell it right from the cow.

We also have a lot of manure which we sell; we also use it to process biogas which we use for cooking. Of course, we also scatter it over our own fields. The biogas installation is connected to my kitchen and in order to be able to install it, I took another loan of 114 thousand shilling (1.140 dollars).

Milk is the foundation of our prosperity

We bought land with the revenues of milk

Our land is located on a hill and what you see over there are the terraces for our crops. We have around 16 acres with bananas, mangos, avocados, beans and onions. Once this land belonged to my parents-in-law, now it is ours and one day my children will inherit it. I love this place, it’s where we belong, but I want to expand. Hence, I bought a piece of land with the milk proceeds near Masinga Dam. I’m also looking forward continue with my agribusiness ventures there.

In order to do this, we will need another loan, that’s for sure. This time my collateral will be the cows as the milk proceeds are a steady source of income. The milk is giving me a great foundation for now and the future.”

20201216 Mcvin Mesa Muia Text Image

Mcvin Mbesa Muia lives in the region Machokos, in the village Kyambutho, around 80 kilometres south east of Nairobi. She’s one of the many women with her own small business. She’s a member of a group of women who receive small loans from the Kenya Women Microfinance Bank.

BIO participates with 5-million-dollar equity in REGMIFA, a regional MSME fund for Sub Sahara Africa. REGMIFA supports financial institutions like KWFT.

Regmifa

  • Equity € 3,743,000.00 (2010-2019)
    Sub-Saharan Africa

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