"Currently we are facing hard time, as a result of drought, it has not rained for better part of last year. We cannot do farming, and the cows have nothing to feed on. We purely depend on cattle for survival, because we sell milk, on a daily basis but now we are forced not to milk them because, nothing comes out of them."

"Drought has been ravaging the whole of last year. My livestock was dying and I incurred losses. I was on verge of selling the remaining cows to avert further losses when it miraculously rained. I was happy because my cows regained good health and I even canceled the thoughts of selling them."

"Lack of food is the biggest issue in my household. Sometimes, hunger strikes so hard that we starve for two consecutive days. When things get tough, I beg the shopkeeper to give us foodstuffs on credit. By the time I received the transfer, I was in debt of KES 300 at the store and the priority was to repay the same. Additionally, I bought three hens worth KES 900. The goal is to let the chicken multiply, sell the produce, and use the money to obtain goats and later cattle. I perceive cattle keeping as personal banking because the cash generated from selling cows is enough to settle one’s bills."

"The transfer has brought a very big difference in my life and that of my family. We were able to fulfill our wish of having another cow. We bought a heifer that we expect to help us in the future when it calves. We will be able to have a constant supply of milk when one cow is dry and we will no longer incur the cost of buying milk. Our children are also happy because they got new clothes for themselves. The household budget costs have also overally reduced and I have managed to save some of the money that I make from my business of selling walking sticks."

"When I withdrew the money, the first thing I thought of was to build a house since I was living in someone’s house. Therefore, I set aside KES 10000.00 for buying some construction materials. I also paid KES 5000.00 for my five primary school children who were ever sent home for fees. I also bought nine goats for KES 27000.00. I bought a huge number of goats because they were cheaper by then compared to cows. Thereafter, I paid KES 2500.00 to my in-laws to finalize the dowry and used the rest in buying some food for the family."

"Receiving this money from GiveDirectly means I will be a proud owner of a retail shop in the village. I will save the transfers in my MPESA account till it gets to KES 50,000 and start the business in the village. I am planning to open a retail shop because the nearest shop is about 10km away. I will use the surplus to start rearing chicken. When the chicken get to a certain number, I will sell them and buy goats. I will later exchange the goats with indigenous dairy cows for milk production; something very common in my village."

"Receiving this money means completion of my house. My house is unfinished because I do not have money to buy iron sheets and timber for roofing purposes. Timber, iron sheets and labour charges will cost me KES 30,000. Covering my house means I will be able to be independent and enjoy my privacy. I will later spend KES 60,000 to buy two indigenous dairy cows for milk production. The milk will serve two purposes; domestic consumption and for sale. With all this, I will finally live a comfortable life away from suffering and misery."

"My cow recently gave birth and I count this as a big blessing in the family."

"I burn and sell charcoal to earn living while my husband is a fisherman. All our efforts combined, we have been raising our five children and giving them the best that we could afford. For the last one year, my charcoal business hasn't been doing well because it's been a struggle to find trees to burn due to deforestation. I wanted to give up on the business and focus on something else such as rearing livestock but I lost almost all my livestock to severe drought last year. When I was enrolled in the program, my goal was to buy livestock, at least one goat per month because goats can thrive so we'll under harsh climatic condition compered to cows. I spend my recent transfer to buy a goat. I now have four goats and I want to focus on rearing them as I look forward to buy more."

"I am an aged woman living alone in my house. I separated from my husband 11 years ago because of unavoidable situations . I depend on charcoal burning business to earn a living. I have one indegenous cow which gives me 5 litres of milk every day. I sell the milk at KES 250 every day. I have discovered the importance of keeping livestock and I have a dream of buying more cattle in order to increase my investments. I need two oxen for ploughing my land and 4 cows so that I can get more milk. I thought of buying jersey cows but are too expensive to maintain because there is no enough folder to feed them while the indegenous cattle do best in our areas because they are drought resistant as compared to other cattle breeds. Receiving the first transfer will enable me to buy 6 cattle and will use the remain part of the transfers to buy galla goats to keep."