Margaret Muthoni
Margaret Muthoni Gichure grows a patch of banana trees on part of the plot around her home that she owns in Wagituge, in a rural area about two hours from Nairobi. This patch of trees has been growing for the past few years - she has been planting more trees because, with irrigation piping laid down with a loan from Juhudi, there is water for more trees to grow more bananas.  Since taking the loan and installing the piping in 2006 her banana harvest has grown substantially and is much better quality, she says. She has used the income from the trees to pay the school fees for her daughter's son since the death of his father. As importantly for her, the piping brings clean water for her family, and the bananas are a key nutritional supplement to the other subsistence crops they live on: the area - like much of Kenya - has been suffering from drought for the past four years. She is applying for another loan from Juhudi to build an improved feeding structure to increase her cows' productivity. She also wants to bring electricity to her home, and is investigating the solar power equipment that Juhudi offers, as well as the biogas machines that turn animal manure into methane fuel for lamps. From Juhudi, she says, "we've seen a great help."

Marcy Njoroge
Marcy Njoroge took her first loan in 2006, with which she purchased a 5,000-liter water tank in which she captures and stores rainwater. This tank, she says, "has really helped me." Besides securing clean drinking water, it helps her ensure there is water to grow the maize and beans with which she feeds her family. This has helped her get through recent years of drought in her area, a rural district outside the city of Murang'a.  Without Juhudi, she says, "I could not have afforded to buy such a tank." She has now taken out a second loan, for a young dairy cow. The milk it produces will provide extra nutrition for her family and additional income that she can invest in her farm and her future: she plans to buy another cow and wants to begin raising poultry. Toward this future, she says, Juhudi has enabled her to take "a big step."

James Kariuki
James Kariuki was born on his farm, in a rural area outside the central Kenyan city of Murang'a. "I didn't know where I could get a loan as a small farmer," he says, until he found Juhudi. He took his first loan in 2007 for a high-quality dairy cow, which now produces an impressive 25 liters per day. He has used the income from this milk to pay his children's school fees, and also to reinvest in his farm: it has enabled him to purchase another cow on his own, as well as equipment to help prepare their food. He also grows bananas and some other fruits, and is experimenting with a small grocery stall, set up by the road on the edge of his property. And at times he now hires others to help on his farm so that he can increase production. And he says he now knows what to tell other small farmers who need loans: go to Juhudi.