Case of Numbini Vanilla group member
Boniface Paskali Mkulani, a 33-year-old father of two children and one wife, who is a member of the Numbini Vannila Group, one of the famous and potential spice groups under the USP II project, He joined a group in 2017. Mr. Boniface lives in the Morogoro district in Mtombozi ward in Numbini village. His main source of income is agriculture, especially in spice products (mint, vanilla, and cloves). Since joining the group, Boniface has received training on spice organic agriculture production, entrepreneurship, and savings and lending.
In 2017, the group started the component of saving and landing, in which group members have a room to save their money and get low interest rate loans. In this component, about 100% of the group members benefit from it, and Mr. Boniface was one of them.
He decided to borrow 500,000 TZS from SSLG in 2021 and put it toward mint production. He received 1,000,000 TZS after four months, which he used to purchase three acres of land for growing spices and to give back to the neighborhood by purchasing water pipes to irrigate his plots during the dry season. By using the same irrigation systems for their plots, neighboring farmer groups Songambele and Numbini also profited.
According to Boniface Paskali Mkulani, SAT SSLGs are a crucial part of SAT groups because they keep farmers connected even during the off-season. In addition, loaning procedures are straightforward and loans can be obtained quickly.
The USP Project is kindly supported by Austrian Development Agency, Land Voralberg, and Fester Foundation.
