How long has Phal An been making rice wine?
She has been making rice wine for four years, and all of her siblings do as well. During the Pol Pot regime [1975-1979], her family went to Thailand and stayed at a U.N. camp. While there, her younger brothers learned how to make rice wine and have since taught her. Phal An received a $700 loan funded through Kiva. What is she using the money for? Phal An has 10 middlemen in her village who rely on her production. Often, she can’t produce enough to meet the demand of all 10, so she borrowed money to buy more rice in bulk. She also used the funds to purchase rice wine from her brothers. They have only one middleman in their region, so she buys their surplus and resells it to her middlemen. Who are her primary customers? She sells to local middlemen who then sell her wine to small pubs in the countryside. Does Phal An have any local competition? There are five to six other producers in her village, Damnak Sankae. It’s a large village with a population around 3,500, so the rice winemakers
