Kushali

The Kushali Group consists of 15 members who all live in the same village in the district of Kasur in northeastern Pakistan, near the border with India. All the group members are male smallholder farmers aged between 20 and 59. In total, they have 56 children in their households, 29 of whom are in school. Two of the group members are single.

Muhammad Yasin is the son of Sher Muhammad and is one of the members of the Khushali group. He is 59 years old and married with three sons and two daughters. Two of his children are in education. He owns four water buffaloes which provide the family with fresh milk to drink. Muhammad Yasin also has around four acres of land in total. On average he estimates that he earns around £1,000 per year from selling wheat and rice. Muhammad Yasin and his fellow group members use a tube well which runs on diesel. It is quite expensive and a significant proportion of the group's income is spent on buying fuel. They are in a predicament though because if they do not buy fuel their crops do not receive sufficient water and yield is low. The Kushali group requested an interest-free loan from our local partner organisation Akhuwat to buy a solar tube well. In the long-run this will reduce the cost of the water supply and ultimately will provide them with better yields. It is also more environmentally sustainable. They will repay the loan in 3 equal instalments over the next 18 months. If you are lending, please be aware that due to the current COVID-19 pandemic your repayments could be at greater risk of delay or default.