Somaya is married and lives in Khalar village of Balkhab district, her husband is agricultural farmer and his earnings were never enough for the family. Somaya had basic tailoring skills but due to lack of business information and assets she never had the courage to start a business.
She joined “Portalash (Hardworking)” Self-Help Group and attended regular bi-weekly group meetings, and received group management, microfinance, business development services and poultry vocational skills training. She also received enterprise startup kit and established her poultry micro-enterprise. She says “I was always interested to have my own source of income and help my husband by contributing in family expenses rather than asking him for money”.
Now Somaya collects around 15 eggs from her poultry farm every day, she has a contract with a
local shop where she sells eggs on daily basis. She says “I have invested my own income in to tailoring business and now I stitch clothes for women, I didn’t have the confidence and resources to start this business before attending BDS training”.
Somaya earns around AFN 2,000 from tailoring and around AFN 2,500 from poultry business per month. She says “My poultry business has encouraged other women in my neighborhood to think of having their own business”. She added “Now I have the knowledge and resources to expand my business, but the weather is not suitable so I am waiting until next month to expand my poultry business”.
Somaya has been supporting her husband in family expanses and plans to take a loan from the SHG and buy agro-chemicals for her husband in order to increase harvest.
