Segundo Arsecio

Segundo is 55, married and lives with his family in Carchi province in Ecuador. Originally, he comes from Colombia, which he left when he was much younger to search for a better future. In Carchi, he found that he could work in agricultural farming and over several years he learned to prepare farmland, to sow seeds and to do the harvesting by working hard.

Segundo grows wheat on his five hectare farm which he rents. He starts preparing the soil by ploughing it, then sowing wheat seeds, fertilising his crops and finally harvesting the produce. To assist with the harvesting, Segundo rents a harvesting machine which cuts the stalks so that the barley seeds can be stored in sacks.

Currently, he manages to harvest twice a year, producing 40,000 kg and all the produce is sold to local traders. Additionally, Segundo does farm labouring work, paid on a daily rate to generate an additional income for his household.

Segundo has requested a loan to start a new growing cycle. For this he plans to use £714 to buy 4,000 kg of barley seeds, £558 to buy fertiliser and he will use £1,109 to rent a tractor for preparing the farmland ready for sowing the seeds.