Ramaz

Ramaz is 41 years old. He lives in the small village of Shuakhevi District with his wife and three children. Several times, Ramaz requested a loan from local financial institutions for a family business start-up, but without any success. His loan request was rejected each time because of low income and his family’s poor living conditions. The only source of income for the family is from agricultural activities. In particular, the family has a plot of agricultural land where potatoes, haricot, maize, and nut trees are grown. In addition, they have milking cows whose…

Ramaz is 41 years old. He lives in the small village of Shuakhevi District with his wife and three children. Several times, Ramaz requested a loan from local financial institutions for a family business start-up, but without any success. His loan request was rejected each time because of low income and his family’s poor living conditions. The only source of income for the family is from agricultural activities. In particular, the family has a plot of agricultural land where potatoes, haricot, maize, and nut trees are grown. In addition, they have milking cows whose milk is used in cheese products. They sell the harvested products and cheese locally, at a good price. The income is hardly enough money for food for the family. According to Credo estimations, the family belongs to the 'subsistence poor' category. Ramaz requested a loan from Credo to start-up a family business. Ramaz has now been approved for a loan within the framework of the new joint initiative between Kiva and Credo. The start-up loan program envisages provision of business start-up and re-startup credits, with soft conditions to rural poor people, who do not have access to credit products. These rural poor people are regarded as 'high risk borrowers' because of their low income. With his credit, Ramaz will purchase bee-hives with bee-colonies. After purchasing bee-hives with bee-colonies, the family will be able to produce honey for sale. Honey is a highly-demanded product, as well as very profitable, so Ramaz hopes this will increase the income of his family. The new business initiative, financed with the Kiva start-up loan, will significantly improve the living conditions of the family.