INCOME SOURCES AND THE ROLE OF IN-KIND CONSUMPTION | 35 Œhrough „ust one informal group, £ertha was able to cover the interest pay- ments over the course of the year­ £ut only after she sold her potatoes could she repay the principal in ebruary­ ™hen £ertha could not cover the interest pay- ments for the loans from her regular income sources, she too on additional casual wor to earn money­ Her income barely covered her debts plus her household expenses (see igure ž)­ €n ebruary, when she earned the most from selling potatoes, all of her income was dedicated to loan repayments­ She felt obligated to engage in numerous types of wor, without regard to the „ob or its location, to cover her household expenses, her children’s basic needs, and her debts to the groups­ Some of £ertha’s income from selling potatoes was never actually received­ €n ebruary, she sold potatoes to an agent and earned a lump sum of ©S±”•­ €n ebruary she sold an additional ©S±¡¢ of potatoes to another agent, with the agreement that he would pay her later, after his buyer paid him­ ©nfortunately as of Žune, the second agent had never returned with her payment, and £ertha had given up on this payment­ Since £ertha earned ±¡’ in agricultural income in total that year, this means that she lost more than half of her potential annual agricultural income in a single bad transaction­ Her experience highlights the vulnerability of commercial smallholders in loose value chains­ FIGURE 9: Income barely covers debts and household expenses: Bertha (TANZANIA) (US$) $180 $160 $140 $120 $100 $80 $60 $40 $20 $0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Agricultural income earned Other income earned Debt paid Household expenses