The story of Rokia Degbevi (Benin)

Rokia Degbevi from Benin has her own small cassava field just outside the village. It is far from big and it is hard work to scratch a decent harvest out of the arid African soil. But Rokia is tough and hard labour is not trouble for her. Armed with a hoe and her two bare hands, she digs cassava roots up from the red soil for hours in the burning sun.

At home, she makes these into gari, a local dish that she sells in the market in the mornings. This is how Rokia earns her own money. She has plenty of energy and determination. However, she lacks financial means. To grow the cassavas and make gari from these to sell at the market, she got a microcredit of EUR 45 from the local savings and credit co-operation. With the profits from her sales, she has managed to pay back her loan after six months. Then she keeps a bit of profit over, extra money that she can use to give her children food or to send the older children to school.  Once one loan is paid off, Rokia can take out a new one. Her little business is blooming and the gari saleslady is proud of the results of her hard work. Thanks to the EUR 45 starting capital, she now has her own income and she can better maintain her family. Everyone at the market knows her and she is a respected business lady. So it is also with pride that Rokia poses in front of her cassava field, which she has transformed with the help of a little credit into a source of personal income.

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