Nov Sopheap, 55, is a rice farmer in Cambodia. Before accessing finance, she and her husband struggled to make ends meet — no proper bathroom, insufficient school materials for their children, and no reliable income between farming seasons. Their youngest daughter even had to leave school at Grade 11 to work at a garment factory.
She knew that dry-season rice farming would give her more stable income, but had no capital to start. Loans from village moneylenders would have come at crippling interest rates.
Sopheap took her first loan of US$1,000 from Daikou Finance to start dry-season rice farming. As her business grew, her loan size increased to US$10,000. Today, the family farms year-round, has repaid their loans and even owns a motorcycle.
Leap201’s loans to Daikou Finance will enable more families like Sopheap’s to improve their lives. Often, they already know how – they just need someone to believe in them.