The Sweet Profits of Sugar Cane
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One of the DOVE SPRINGS SACCO members, Mr. Muzalali is doing sugarcane farming on his 1.5 hectares of land in Kakamega County in Western Kenya. He took a loan of 85,000 Kenya shillings in January 2022 which helped him to buy inputs and pay workers on the farm. The Nigerian C945 variety of sugar can cuttings that he used yields up to five times more than the normal variety. Since Mr. Muzalali is among the few sugarcane farmers in the area, he has a ready market in Kabras Sugar Co.
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“I chose sugarcane farming because it is not labor-intensive and returns are much better, unlike maize and other crops in the area,” he explained.
Sugarcane takes up to eighteen months to mature. Mr. Muzalali is therefore expecting his first harvest in August 2023. “I am optimistic that in the end, the venture will pay off handsomely within the next two years period, since I will not incur the startup cost in the next seasons.” Mr. Muzalali said. His vision is to increase his farming to five hectares for more income.
“There is no better investment I could have done than save my money in the DOVE SPRINGS SACCO. They have helped me realize my investment dream, and have proven to be a reliable source of financial solutions to smallholder investors,” Mr. Muzalali testifies
SACCO Member Excels in Banana Business
Veronica Wambui, mother of two children, is a member of DOVE SPRINGS SACCO. When I met Veronica two years ago, and shared with me her idea of starting a banana business. However, getting the capital was her biggest problem. I introduced her to DSS and she started saving.
Towards the end of 2022, Veronica applied for her first loan of Ksh30,000. She used part of the money to rent a stall in the market and get the required documents from the City Council. Her business is in Westlands, in the outskirts of Nairobi city.
“I decided to venture into the banana business because bananas are widely consumed. One may never miss finding a market for bananas,” she said.
Veronica gets bananas are from Meru County. She goes to Meru on a weekly basis and buys twenty-five to thirty bunches of bananas for between two hundred to three hundred Kenya shillings. She partners with other traders to transport the bananas to Nairobi. Veronica explained that it takes three to four days for bananas to ripen. She sells ripe bananas on wholesale and retail to grocery traders.
“I earn an average profit of five hundred shilling from a bunch of bananas,” she said.
Veronica really likes the technology that makes mobile money transfers possible. Most of her customers use the M-Pesa app to pay her. She also uses the same platform to pay her loan to DSS. She does not have to come to the SACCO office or go personally to the bank to deposit the money. This makes all transactions easy and convenient.
Veronica is faithfully paying her loan. She praised DSS in that she was able to acquire a loan after saving for a few months. Knowing that she could access a loan of up to three times the amount of her savings gave her the incentive to save regularly.
She is so grateful for this opportunity to earn money to support her family, and believes that her business will continue to grow as she builds a customer base and practices good financial management.