Building Dreams, One Jerrican at a Time: The Empowered Life of Miracle Ali
Miracle producing palm oil
Story by Benjamin Elijah
Miracle Ali is a 57-year-old female household head and member of the Zumunchi Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) Group in Ndaforo Village of Ndaforo-Gwanda Community, Kurmi LGA, in Taraba state. Despite not being married, she is responsible for caring for her six children.
Miracle was already involved in palm oil production and selling before the introduction of the PROSELL Project in her community. "I could produce 2 to 4 20-litre jerricans of oil weekly and sometimes made up to ₦8,000 in profit. However, lacking proper training, I squandered almost everything I earned and saved little or nothing." Despite her income, Miracle could hardly account for her earnings and struggled to meet her basic needs.
Miracle working with her grinding machine
Miracle joined Zumunchi VSLA, one of the first Village Savings and Loans Associations in Ndaforo 1 Community and began saving. "Our share value was 500 naira, and I immediately decided to buy all five shares weekly," she narrates. With this decision, she has received a total of ₦125,000 from her savings. She added some money to these savings and bought a new grinding machine at the cost of ₦150,000. This machine increased her access to capital for her palm oil business.
Now, Miracle produces up to 10 20-litre jerricans of oil weekly, making as much as ₦20,000 weekly from palm oil sales alone. "In addition to the oil business and during the peak season, I make as much as ₦10,000 on some days and nothing on others, but I often average ₦20,000 weekly from the machine alone," she stated.
Miracle with one of her newly remodeled houses
Today, thanks to her diversified businesses, Miracle has built two houses. She spent over ₦250,000 on the roofing of one of the houses. She has also saved up to ₦5,000 weekly in her VSLA. Recounting some of her achievements from the VSLA, she stated, "Initially, this building was just two rooms and was on the verge of collapsing. I pulled it down, used cement to lay a new foundation, and then expanded it to three rooms. I have also built another block of 2 rooms in one of my plots. That one is for my children." She added, "I wouldn’t have achieved any of these without the knowledge of savings I got from the VSLA through the PROSELL project."
Miracle is one of the many women in Ndaforo who have benefited from the PROSELL intervention. She continues to engage in her businesses and save from her earnings, thanks to the training she received from the VSLA. She recently received a fish production starter pack, including fingerlings, and the fish are thriving.
About the Project
PROSELL (Produce and Sell) is a 4-year, 10 million Euro project funded by the European Union. Its goal is to enhance the resilience of 40,000 small-scale farmers, fishermen, and livestock owners (including women, youth, and vulnerable households) in the commodity value chain and rural enterprises in Taraba State.
Edited by Maxwell Osarenkhoe, Media and Communications Officer
