Yunuke is 59 years old and is a very passionate dairy farmer who hails from Keumbu village in the rich Kisii highlands. This area is known to be a banana-growing region and experiences one of the best weather patterns. Their staple food is “matoke,” a mouthwatering delicacy prepared from bananas. She has been happily married and has been blessed with 7 lovely children. She passionately loves farming and has been actively involved in farming for the past 20 years. Through those years, she gained so much experience and is touted as the best farmer in her village, so she offers free advice to young upcoming farmers. Her primary source of income has been milk, eggs, tea and a variety of crops.
Yunuke enjoys dairy farming, milking, and feeding her cows. The biggest challenge she faces is the lack of a quality exotic breed that can produce more milk and satisfy the milk demand that is in her area. To solve this problem, Yunuke is seeking a loan from Kiva lenders via Juhudi Kilimo so that she can buy a good quality breed of dairy cow that can produce between 10-20 liters of milk in a day. She does not have to worry about the market because the demand is so high for that type of milk and she could also sell the milk to a large dairy processing company. Through this, she will get an immediate increase in profit margins and she will improve her living conditions.
In addition to profits in milk, she will also benefit from manure (cow dung) from the cow which will boost her farm fertility and production levels. Yunuke is very visionary and in the long run, she plans that through accumulated profits, she will be able to buy more exotic dairy cows and will be able to open a large dairy shop where she will package milk and sell milk products such as cream and yogurt. Through increased profits, she will fully repay the loan and live a financially secure life.