September 2016—Their yogurt is tangy, their buttermilk is thick, and their cream is the perfect addition to an early morning caffeine fix. Tala Dairy Production Co., founded in 2012 by a group of ambitious and experienced entrepreneurs, aimed to offer home delivery service of dairy products to Kabul residents.

But achieving the globally respected standards they aimed for—which required obtaining modern machinery and meeting international production requirements—proved difficult.

Despite Afghanistan’s growing demand for dairy products and the company’s commitment to quality, Tala was unable to compete with international dairy products already available in the country’s markets. To make their local products competitive, the company asked for a USAID-sponsored $20,000 loan from the First Microfinance Bank of Afghanistan (FMFB) in 2012.

USAID, through the Financial Access for Investing in the Development of Afghanistan program, has helped dozens of small and medium sized businesses to expand and hire new employees.

With USAID’s help, Tala qualified for the loan, which helped the company to obtain the new equipment and packaging expertise they needed to attract new customers. Increased demand encouraged Tala to expand to eight locations across the capital and hire 16 new employees.

“Thanks to USAID’s support, we have expanded our business and have made a small, but nonetheless meaningful contribution to the development of our country,” said Mohammad Nawab Sarabi, Tala’s chief executive director. “Before obtaining a loan from FMFB, our company had only 12 employees. After receiving the loan, we hired 16 more and deliver to around 250 families throughout Kabul and Maidan Wardak.”

The $108 million, five-year Financial Access for Investing in the Development of Afghanistan project, which began in 2011, is designed to build a sustainable, diverse and inclusive financial sector that can meet the needs of micro, small and medium enterprises throughout the country. To date, the program has facilitated $52.2 million in private sector loans to 5,800 businesses, of which $3.2 million has gone to 1,760 women-owned businesses. These financial arrangements have created nearly 6,000 full-time equivalent jobs and have directly supported nearly 76,000 families throughout the country.

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