2019-2020 Livestock as a Business Program Results

Our annual Livestock Loan Review Seminar for our Livestock as a Business 2019-2020 program took place on September 22-24, 2020. This is the culmination of our loan cycle and is a 3 day meeting where the Livestock Farmer Groups we have trained report on the $2000 Livestock loan they received from us last year. This year we have 10 groups who received the loan.

The loan cycle activities for each group are:

1. receive the loan,
2. purchase livestock,
3. fatten and sell their livestock,
4. review and evaluate.

At every step we monitor to make sure that people are on track.

The big things we keep an eye on are the money transactions to ensure that the money is used for the intended purpose and reported accurately, and to make sure that the fattening season is going well. We provide support to minimize risks in case there are any challenges along the way, like drought, disease or group problems. This is one of the ways we make sure the loan is repaid.  It is a successful strategy. We have 99.7% loan repayment across all the years of the program.

The groups had the highest profit we have ever seen.  First, all repaid the loan. Then, we have 4 groups who made more than $2000 net profit (on a $2000 loan). Two groups  made between $1000 and $1999, and the remaining 4 groups each made between $500 and $999. These extraordinary results are a result of hard work by our groups and the good luck of a) good pasture b) corona virus causing some markets to be closed, so it was a sellers' market!

Click here to read the full report!