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A small business keeps the family together Republic of Moldova -- Gaina Aliona used to work as a teacher in the village school. After the collapse of the Soviet system, her salary was reduced to a tiny fraction of what she had been receiving and she was forced to look elsewhere for work to support her family. Like many local people, she owned a small plot of land but lacked the tools and resources to cultivate it in a productive way. In 2002, feeling disheartened about the lack of income opportunities at home, she borrowed money to go abroad to look for work. Unfortunately she purchased a false visa, and was arrested and held for about two months before being sent home. Undeterred, she began to think about starting her own business. “When I heard about the IFAD project [The Rural Finance and Small Enterprise Development Project] and its activities, I was determined to find out what it could offer me.”She used a small grant of US$1,000 from an NGO as collateral to take out a bank loan from IFAD’s project resources. The project helped her develop a business plan and prepare the loan application and required documentation. In 2003 Gaina received the money/credit and used it to buy and install a vegetable oil refinery where she could process sunflower seeds and produce vegetable oil. She now provides much-needed processing services to fellow villagers who cultivate small plots of land, for the benefit of all. Every day, six or seven clients from the village use her processing services. At present she produces a total of about 50,000 litres of oil per year, including 10,000 litres of her own oil and about 40,000 litres for villagers. The business has flourished. She has been able to buy her own premises. In 2005 she applied for and received a small grant from IFAD’s Economic Empowerment of Rural Women Programme through the Soros Foundation, and used her own money to supplement the funds to buy a mill to process cereals. She now produces corn flour and corn cereals made from finely ground corn in addition to oil. Gaina, her husband and her son now run the company. “I used to think that the only solution was to leave the country,” she says, “Now my family has a future, and we can stay together.” She is thinking of expanding the business still further. Building up a pig farm would be an excellent way of using some of the by-products of processing. Source: IFAD |
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