Meet the Clients Leila

Country: Ghana

Leila is a farmer from rural Ghana. With no formal training or access to the resources needed, her farm barely produced enough to feed her family, let alone extra to sell. A loan, alongside agricultural and financial training from Opportunity International, enabled Leila to buy fertiliser and farm more efficiently so that she dramatically improved the farm’s productivity

Leila has been a farmer most of her life. Her father died when she was young, which meant she could no longer go to school and had to help her mother on their farm.

She is a wife and mother to three young children. Before she met Opportunity International, Leila was struggling to make ends meet on her farm. She had no formal training or access to the resources she needed. Her farm barely produced enough to feed her family, let alone extra to sell.

Leila is part of a community group of local farmers. Opportunity International provided Leila and her group with training in finances and agriculture, helping them to save securely and improve their farming.

At first, I didn’t know that when we farm we are meant to save part of our money. We were taught how to get into the habit of saving. In our group there is box and we all contribute.

Before Opportunity International, I would only get 2 or 3 bags at harvest, but when Opportunity came, I got 8 or 9 bags.

Access to financial services is a common issue for the people that we support. For Leila, she lives in a remote village in northern Ghana and the nearest town is a 3-hour bus ride along a bumpy red-dust road, inaccessible after rain.

We can’t save into a bank account because of the distance we need to travel - and it is easier to be able to save into a box.

In our community the men have relegated all the responsibility of children to us as women - especially as my husband has two wives.   Knowing this, through being part of this group, and being able to make my own money and run my business, I have managed to get a bit more confidence and respect in the community.

I have been able to put my children through school without the need of my husband’s support. My husband brings something home but it really isn’t enough; so I have had to step up to the responsibility and do it myself.