Abraham Kimutai, Farmer
sQuid Microfinance aims to economically empower iMlango parents, and thus facilitate their children’s continued attendance at school, and ultimate successful transition into secondary education. The Microfinance service, delivered by sQuid and enabled by its digital platform, includes a digital wallet for each loan customer - a Personal Education Fund (PEF) - where they are encouraged to set aside own funds for their children’s ongoing educational needs.
Abraham Kimutai lives in Uasin Gishu County, and has two daughters, Cynthia in Class 7 and Ivy in Class 5, who attend the local iMlango school. Abraham has physical challenges with his arms, but despite this, is able to practice small-scale, mixed farming. He keeps dairy cows, poultry and grows crops such as maize on the two acre piece of land on which he lives.
He first learned about sQuid Microfinance during a parents’ meeting at school, and was inspired to form a group of ten members who wanted to apply for a loan. The group attended weekly financial training meetings conducted by the iMlango loan officers over a period of eight weeks, and as they were able to demonstrate that they were able to manage their finances during this time, they qualified for a loan.
In May 2019, Abraham applied for and received a loan of KSh 40,000. He spent KSh 15,000 on improvements to his farm, KSh 15,000 on dairy feed and KSh 10,000 on poultry feed. This financial injection has given his business a significant boost:
“The production in my farm has improved. I currently sell 10 litres of milk per day at KSh 60 per litre, compared to 5 litres previously. I have 30 chickens and sell their eggs at KSh 450 per tray, and my farming has improved because I received this loan. The loan allowed me to run my business in a better way,” said Abraham.
The increase in his income that has resulted from the loan allows him to contribute to his education fund every week, and therefore is confident that Cynthia and Ivy will be able transition from primary to secondary school.