La Leang

La Leang
Status: Raised
$1,000.00 Loan Request
$1,000.00 Raised
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=24510

About the Entrepreneur Name: La Leang
Business Name: Farming
Location: Kean Svay district, Cambodia
Primary Activity: Livestock
Loan Requested: $1,000.00
Repayment Term: 12 months - repaid monthly
Loan Use: Purchasing three cows and a boat & fishing net.
Date Posted: Nov 19, 2007
Date Funded: Nov 19, 2007

Mr. Leang La (aged 47) and his wife, Keat Pov (aged 39) got married in 1986. They have three daughters and two sons, two of whom still study in school and two who work in a garment factory. They are requesting their first loan from MAXIMA in the amount of $1,000. They will use this loan to purchase three cows, a boat and a fishing net.
Currently, they grow food such as rice and raise chickens and a few pigs. La also does construction work when he can find employment. As is typical here in Cambodia, we met beneath their stilt house in the area that serves as an indoor/outdoor live/work space. La explained that he actually built his family’s home in 1994 using salvaged lumber. The many tunnels and voids gnawed by termites testified to both the decrepitude of the prior dwelling that was the source of the lumber and the imminent need for replacement of this one. When they save enough money, Pov and La said they hope to replace their very modest house with a new one.

La learned to raise cows many years ago before the Pol Pot regime here in Cambodia. Because it is relatively expensive, beef has fallen down the list of sources of protein. Nonetheless, as the economy joins in the growth of the other countries in this region, beef is regaining popularity. Pov and Las's use mosquito netting to protect the animals from murderous bites and have already walled off a space beneath their house to use as a stall.

Pov and La explained that there is a breeder near their village who sells a bovine “starter pack” of sorts – one adult male and one adult female for US $400 each plus one calf free of charge. La and Pov say that it takes one year to raise a cow to maturity. In that time, it will eat approximately $200 worth of food – mostly grass and rice straw. These both need to be purchased due to high population density and to flooding during monsoon season (both factors limiting grazing space). When the cow is mature, they sell it either for slaughter or for further husbandry.

By far the most popular source of protein here is fish. This country is graced with an abundance of freshwater lakes from which Cambodians harvest two-thirds of the protein they consume. La has fished for many years but has never owned his own boat. A used boat and a net will cost them about $200.