Daihi Taraqyati Group

The Daihi Taraqyati (Village Development) group consists of eight members (not all are in the photographs) living in a village called Loonekey which is in the district of Kasur in eastern Pakistan, near the border with India. All group members are male smallholder farmers aged between 19 and 49. In total they have 26 children in their households, 14 of whom are in school. Three of the group members are unmarried. They usually grow wheat and rice to sell and vegetables for their own household consumption.

One of the group's members is Riaz Hussain. He is 34 years old and married with three children. One of his children is in school while the others are infants. One of Riaz's main worries is the future of his children if he cannot earn enough to provide for them. He farms around 15 acres of land in total, planting wheat in the winter and rice in the summer. On average he estimates that he earns around £1,000 per year in total. He has a water buffalo which provides the family with around three litres of milk per day. Riaz Sahib and the other group members use a tube well which runs on diesel. When the price of fuel is high they cannot afford to properly irrigate their crops. It costs £141 to purchase enough diesel to irrigate an acre of rice and £20 for enough diesel for an acre of wheat. The inability to earn an income from farming has forced many farmers to move temporarily or permanently to urban areas to look for work. The group all know each other and have come together to apply for an interest free loan from our local partner organisation, Akhuwat Islamic Microfinance. They will use it to purchase and install a solar tube well. This relies upon energy gathered through large solar panels to power the well. Akhuwat has already financed the purchase of several such solar tube wells, although this is the first to be financed through Lendwithcare. The loan is repayable over 18 months and in three installments. Although, there will be an initial outlay, in the long-run the group believe they will save money by not having to pay for expensive diesel, there will not be the noise associated with the diesel motor and it will be more environmentally friendly. They expect to increase yields and profitability by being able to use the solar tube well when they wish, rather than when they can afford. Two of the photographs show a solar tube well from a neighbouring village which has already been financed by Akhuwat and is working well for local farmers.