Zulma Janeth

Zulma Janeth lives in Cotacachi in the north of Ecuador. She is 30 years old and a single mother to a one-year-old boy. Zulma resides in a productive community known for its diverse fruit production. For the last seven years, Zulma has dedicated herself to farming. She was taught by her parents from a very young age to work the land, grow local fruits, and care for the gardens.

Over the years, Zulma has been learning and improving her cultivation techniques. This is thanks to the workshops that all farmers in her community receive on proper land management, local product cultivation techniques, and the use of organic inputs.

As a result, Zulma has been able to improve each growing cycle and achieve better harvests. Every year, she manages to harvest 224 sacks of passion fruits and 1,250 sacks of tree tomatoes.

With the support of her family, Zulma and her loved ones harvest their products and sell them at the markets in the city of Quito.

Currently, Zulma shares a loving home with her parents and her young son, where they have created unforgettable moments. With the hope of building a more secure future for her family, she has decided to take an important step: legalising the home where she lives. To achieve this goal, she has applied for a loan that will allow her to obtain the property deed.

This loan is one of 8 special loan requests that have been assessed and approved by Lendwithcare's local partner in Ecuador, Cooperative Santa Anita, to enable 8 farming families to purchase the deeds to their farmland. This loan is a little different to the loans we normally support on Lendwithcare since it is not primarily for productive purposes, and all 8 families have never accessed a loan from a formal financial institution before. However, after careful consideration and assessment, we have decided with our local partner to support these loan requests since we believe they will bring significant benefits to the families who will receive them. Not only will this important purchase mean the families no longer have to work on lands that they legally do not own (even though they have been working the land for several decades) but it also means that they will gain improved access to basic services such as water, electricity, and social housing from the Government. With the deeds to their land they will also be able to pass the land on to their children, helping to secure their futures. Another benefit of this loan is that it will enable these low income families to start building a credit history with a local financial institution, enabling them to access new loans for their agricultural activities in the future.

Please note that due to the nature of this loan, there is some added risk that it will not be repaid as expected.