• bouavone laos entrepreneur

Bouavone

Location: Laos

Bouavone is a member of WFDF at their new Meuang Feuang Branch. She raised ducks at home for family consumption and would sometimes sell a couple on the side. She decided to take a loan from WFDF for 2 million LAK (≈$246) which she used to buy 100 ducks. She sold those ducks after 2.5 months and bought 200 more. She sells the ducks locally at the market and continues to invest her profits back into the business, buying more ducks.

One couple of ducklings costs 8000 LAK (≈$1). So 100 ducks cost 400,000 LAK ($50). The 100 ducks will need about 15 packages of food to raise them. Each package is 20 kilos of food and costs 170,000 LAK (≈$21). She sells each duck when it is approximately 2 kilos.

Bouavone says her life has changed very much. She used to sell only 3-5 ducks and now the profits from her business can be 4 million LAK (≈$491) in 1 month. In addition to reinvesting in her business, she has also been saving with WFDF. She has 970,000 LAK in her voluntary account, 236,000 LAK in her mandatory savings and 963,000 LAK in each of 2 special savings accounts that members can designate for their children. (Total savings of 3.1 million LAK ≈$385). Bouavone emphasizes the importance of savings because she says there is always a risk for disease when raising animals. She also keeps the area where the ducks are raised very clean, however, she thinks it will be better if she can acquire more land so the ducks will have more space.

Now she is managing her second cycle loan from WFDF, which is worth 3.5 million LAK (≈$430).


Microfinance Partner: Women and Family Development Fund

The vision of WFDF is to become a leading provider of financial services to low income women and their families in Laos. Established in May 2009, the Women and Family Development Fund (WFDF) has a strong social mission of rural poverty alleviation through microfinance in the form of collateral free group lending and savings, targeted towards women.

Learn more about Women and Family Development Fund