"In March my brother gave me a dairy cow. I was struggling so much to get milk for my 3-month-old son. This was a relief to my family since it solved the problem I was facing."

"Receiving this money signifies an achievement of my long-time dream of starting a dairy farm. Since the passing on of my parents in the year 2015 I have been struggling to gather additional assets for my family and my siblings. I was left independent at the tender age of 17 and with 3 siblings. The only asset we inherited from our parents was a 4-acre piece of land which I rented out to earn a living.With this money I will be able to buy a dairy cow worth KES 35000 and use KES 10000 to pay back the renters.I am glad that this dream will come true and that food insecurity and financial limitations will end."

"I am a father of 8 engaging in livestock farming.My ambition has been to engage in large scale dairy farming because this is the main economic activity in this area.I have a large piece of land equivalent to 5 acres,this is enough to keep atleast 5 dairy cows.Moreover ,we leave next to a forest which serves as a good source of feeds for our cattle and also gives access to clean water. In the past 5 years ,I had flock of cattle but all these were sold out to pay school fees for our children.Since then owning a dairy cow has been a challenge to me due to financial limitations verses numerous needs of the family. However,am now happy that I will be able to own two dairy cows because I will use KES 50000 to buy them."

"I plan to buy a dairy cow to boost my income that I get from working as a cobler. Having a dairy cow will bring in an additional KES 200 per day, to the KES 100 that I currently make. I will spend about KES 30,000 on this and a further 20,000 to improve my home by building a better house. I will then build a house and demolish the mud hut that I currently live in. I will replace the grass thatching material with an iron roof at a total cost of KES 40,000."

"My biggest challenge at the moment is buying food for the family, I have been thinking of buying a dairy cow that will cost KES 40,000 to provide milk for the family. I have been buying milk from our neighbors at KES 35 per litre, this is not enough and it is expensive for the family. Having small children, milk is vital because it is a good source of proteins."

"We are a family from a community that values cattle as a source of livelihood (especially by consuming milk), prestige, and a means of accumulating wealth. We have struggled in vain to buy one. This has been a source of frustration in our household because we usually purchase milk for consumption daily and we feel more vulnerable (we have no livestock to sell in case of any financial pressures) by not owning a cow. As such, receiving this money means we shall acquire a cow using about KES 30, 000. Thank you GiveDirectly for this grant."

"As a mother, my family's welfare is my major concern each day. I do not have a stable source of income to secure our needs. Though casual jobs have been my major source of income, I practice farming to enhance it. To be receiving this cash transfer means, a better source of income. I am planning to use KES 43000 to improve my farming. I will use KES 13000 to set up a good chicken house and KES 30000 to buy a dairy cow. I prefer this since I am available to look after them. Having milk for household consumption and sales will boost both my income and my family's health. I will be selling eggs from my chicken to buy some household items."

"Receiving this money means a better living standard for my family. I have been raising my children all along due to family conflict. We are not on good terms and this made them abandon me and struggle alone to raise my two children. Luckily enough my parents have accommodated me for that long but I have not achieved my dream of owning a dairy cow to help me feed my children. With this money, I will consider buying a dairy cow with KES 30,000. I will be happy to receive this transfer since it will achieve my dream of owning a property. This will be a milestone in my life. To avoid the perennial struggle of putting food on the table I will use the remaining money to stock foodstuff for my household."

"Receiving this money means a whole new start for my young family of two. I got married a year ago and life has not been so kind to us since we started living here because I do not have any source of constant income. I depend a lot on casual jobs in the vicinity and they are so hard to come by. This has made me regret even my decision to get married because we often quarrel with my wife due to lack of enough food and adequate housing. These transfers however will guarantee us a while new beginning where we want to purchase livestock especially dairy cows which we hope through the sale of milk we shall be able to earn an income. For the remaining little amount after we purchase two dairy cows we shall use it to expand our house because the house we currently live is so small, we cannot even host guests confidently."

"I used my second transfer to pay school fees of Kes 15000 and used another 35000 to buy a dairy cow and built a new house for my son."