Wanphen

Wanphen is a 45-year-old married woman who lives with her husband and three children in a rural area of Surin province in north-eastern Thailand. Two of her children work as general labourers, while the other one is at school. To earn a living, Wanphen and her husband work in agriculture which includes rice farming and cattle raising.

Wanphen started raising cattle many years ago. She was motivated to raise cattle after seeing how her neighbours earned a good income from the activity. Currently, she owns four cattle that she raises for both breeding and farming. It takes between one and three years of raising a cow before it can be sold. She also sells calves and manure to local farmers to generate income. Wanphen has two cattle sheds where she houses her cattle. One is properly constructed with a steel structure, while the other is a traditional wooden structure.

Wanphen would like to add another cow to her farm to breed more calves and generate additional income. However, she lacks the capital to invest in her cattle-raising business and has requested a loan from Small Enterprise Development which she will pay back in installments. Her plan is to renovate the wooden shed to properly house more cattle, which she intends to raise for the continued growth of her business.