Ly Tes

Ly Tes
Status: Raised
$700.00 Loan Request
$700.00 Raised
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=24512

About the Entrepreneur Name: Ly Tes
Business Name: Farming
Location: Kean Svay district, Cambodia
Primary Activity: Farming
Loan Requested: $700.00
Repayment Term: 12 months - repaid monthly
Loan Use: Purchasing seed, fertilizer and pesticide.
Date Posted: Nov 19, 2007
Date Funded: Nov 19, 2007

Mr. Tes Ly (aged 53) and his wife Chhet Srey (aged 50) got married in 1981. They have nine children, seven of whom still live at home and four who are still in school. This $700 loan is their first loan from MAXIMA. They will use this loan to purchase seed for vegetable produce, fertilizer and pesticide. They have been farming for fifteen years.
Ly and his family live on the edge of a large, shallow depression just west of the Tonle Bassac (river) south of Phnom Penh. During the wet season, the depression fills with water for about three months. As the water recedes, local people plow and plant vegetables in the very fertile soil. To make the most of the growing season, they start seedlings in protected areas in their front yards (see photo). As soon as the plots are ready, they transfer the seedlings to the open depression.

The main vegetable Ly and his family grow is a leafy green similar to broccoli. In a normal season, they can get five cuttings. Over the nine-month dry season they can plant three times. They also grow some cucumbers, cabbage and corn. They irrigate using a gas powered pump. Many people in the area still carry water in large sprinkler cans carried one to a shoulder.

They sell their produce to buyers who, in-turn, sell it in the large markets of Phnom Penh. They both say that farming has been a good livelihood and they’ll continue to do it as long as they can. Their farming future is not guaranteed. They explained that the government is considering building a large port facility along the Tonle Bassac which could encroach on their farming plot. If this happens, they would have to sell their land and move elsewhere to farm. As of now, those development plans remain speculative and the farming continues. Other than continuing to farm and save, both Srey and her husband expressed the hope of having their children study in school to the highest possible level.