"In the coming year and beyond, my aim is to acquire oxen to assist in cultivating land. This investment will benefit me by providing additional income from renting them out. To achieve this goal, I plan to use my savings. Since oxen are costly, I will start by buying goats, which multiply quickly. After raising a good number of goats, I will sell them to raise money for the oxen. This will ensure food security for my family from land cultivation and provide an extra source of income. I'm content with the positive changes occurring in my life."

"Since I received the transfers, the biggest difference has been the ability to manage our treasured investments. The transfer enabled us to irrigate our tomatoes, which we farm commercially to support our family and pay for our children's education. After losing our previous 1.5-acre tomato farm to floods, restarting was challenging and seeing our new crops wilting due to lack of rain was heartbreaking. GiveDirectly's transfer saved us by allowing us to buy petroleum for our generator to pump water for irrigation. Now, our crops are flourishing, and we expect to harvest in a month. Thank you, GiveDirectly, for helping us during our time of need."

"For the past five years, my health has never been good. This affects my ability to work and earn a living for my family. I end up selecting the light casual jobs which earns me about $2 a day. I need a budget of $3 a day to comfortably provide for my family. This difference is making me struggle and survive without other family wants or even skip meals. My financial challenge is making it difficult for me to renovate my house which is almost collapsing. This is embarrassing and shameful."

"In my community, it is a taboo to live with your parents Inlaw in one homestead. Five months ago, the flash floods ravaged our house and we were forced to seek refuge at my parent Inlaw's house. Sadly, I lost nine goats to the flash floods which was our source of family livelihood. I had no otherwise than to settle on casual jobs to put food on the table for my family of four. My village is remote and sometimes casual jobs are not readily available, this is challenging and frustrating especially when you do not have another alternative source of family income."

"After investing everything I had into establishing a 2-acre maize farm, it was tragically swept away by floods, leaving me with nothing to rely on. Adding to my distress, I have a loan of USD 231 from a microfinance institution for the project that I am unable to repay without any income. Additionally, funding my son's university fees has become incredibly difficult. Depending on sporadic casual labor jobs, which don't cover even basic necessities like food and essential items, poses a significant challenge for me and my family."

"Living in a single room with my wife and 5 children poses a significant challenge for me. I lack the funds to build a larger house for my family. Additionally, I own a piece of land that remains idle because I don't have the capital to make it productive. The farm lacks essential infrastructure such as pipes, a water pump, and other necessary inputs. If operational, the farm could have supplied us with food and generated income to meet our other basic needs."

"The floods devastated our village, including my own home. One of the houses where my children used to stay was washed away. I don't have the funds to rebuild it for them. Additionally, our 1.5-acre farm land, which provided our food and income for school fees, was also destroyed by the floods, leaving us with nothing to rely on. Now, we struggle to survive by taking on sporadic casual labor jobs. Paying school fees for my two secondary school children is a major hurdle. There are times when they are sent home due to unpaid fees, further complicating their education."

"Floods are disruptive here, last April we were displaced and moved to live with our neighbors. We lost ten chickens and an acre of maize plantation. This hit us financially and worried about the future months. Food shortage is inevitable.The rains have been continuing and we're worried that it may recur again. We're always on the lookout at night to avoid fatalities."

"This is a lucrative farming area, we depend on crop farming. Crops such as maize, beans, onions, vegetables or even tomatoes. They do well here although it needs a lot of capital to pump water and general farm supplies. Since we depend on irrigation, we can farm at any time of the year. In order to succeed in farming, we need funds. I have enough farm area but cannot utilize it due to financial constraints. This has affected my ability to provide for my family. I have about an acre of unutilized land."

"The rain has been plenty recently, it came with floods albeit and swept away my 2 acres maize plantation. I had hoped to make profit from selling to a local seed company. The devastation caused by the floods has left me with no hope. I am worried about how to survive as a family in the coming months. We live in a dry area and experience extreme weather patterns. When the dry season starts, it'll be difficult feeding my family."