Tha

Loan description:

Tha Chan is 36 years old and married to Mrs. Rem, who is shown in the photograph. Together they grow rice on around two hectares and produce around two tonnes per hectare. They are only able to produce wet season rice, which takes about six months to cultivate. In addition to rice farming, Rem also grows cassava on another piece of land which is about one hectare in size. To earn extra income for their household, Tha and Rem have launched another business buying and selling cows in the local area. They travel from one village to another buying the cows and then sell them to a trader. They can make a profit of between $25 and $50 per cow depending on the cow's age and condition. At the moment they have four cows, which they need to look after and feed before selling them to a trader. To get a healthier working capital they have decided to take out an eighteen month loan in order to purchase more cows to sell. They have found that this business in trading cows provides a much more sustainable income for their family, which makes it much easier to support their children through school and cover the initial costs of preparing their land for farming.