Read our latest blog to learn more about how our Financial Empowering Microloans (FEM) for Women program serves the Kasese community and helps to lift a heavy burden off the community’s shoulders.
FEM for Women
The Financial Empowering Microloans (FEM) for Women program began in 2017 with the goal of supporting women in our community who were stuck in a cycle of poverty.
The process is rather simple, but very impactful. Local women apply for a no interest loan that will be paid back in equal installments over the next four months. The money helps them buy more supplies to trade or otherwise invest in their small business. Then, they use the profits to improve their lives by doing things like funding their children’s education or building a floor for their house.
We hope to expand this program more in the future.
Learn more about some of FEM’s star businesswomen below!

Edinina Joshua
Edinina Joshua
Ednina has been with Orant since 2018. She always invests her loan to buy more supplies and offer more items for sale. With her past profits she invested in a refrigerator for her shop, bought fertilizer for her crops and built a floor for her house and maintained it.

Lonely Lameck
Lonely Lameck
Lonely has been a part of FEM for Women since 2018. She has used her loans to take her business to the next level. In the past, she had no capital to buy fabric or other supplies, so all she could afford to do was mend clothes for a small profit. Now, she has invested in her business and sews uniforms and clothes that she sells. She made the fabulous dress that she is wearing in the picture.

Gloria Chidzanja
Gloria Chidzanja
Gloria has been with the FEM for Women Program since 2018. Before the loans, Gloria didn’t have enough capital to buy products to sell in a good quantity. Now, she can buy more fish from fishermen at the river and also tomatoes from farmers. She sells both of these at the local market and has significantly increased her revenue, which she now uses to send her children to school. The loan allowed her to have more stock and increase her revenue.

BOMFA
We have been supporting the Bowe Mission Farmer’s Association (BOMFA) since Orant Charities Africa was founded. BOMFA is a farmers cooperative that organizes seed and fertilizer distribution to its farmers and helps them sell and transport their crops in bulk. BOMFA supports farmer clubs and contributes to building a more stable community.

Orant Demonstration Farm Plot
Orant Charities Africa’s campus has a 33-acre farm plot which is used to demonstrate proper farming techniques and correct use of fertilizer and seeds to local farmers. This ensures that farmers have access to the latest information and farming techniques in Malawi so their yields can be as high as possible.

Irrigation Clubs
Orant sponsors and manages 14 irrigation clubs in our Kasese operations area. These clubs are supplied with the skills and supplies necessary to plant and harvest multiple crops per year, helping them develop prosperity and wealth.
Stories From The Field
Making Dreams into a Reality: Orant’s Microloan Program in Malawi
Many women in rural Malawi find themselves stuck in the poverty cycle due to lack of business capital. Our FEM Program works with such women, helping them transform their lives as they become independent. Learn more in our latest blog as Sophelet’s shares her story.
Microloans and Building Business Skills in Malawi
At the end of 2022 we introduced our third group of our Financial Empowering Microloan (FEM) for Women group called Takondwa. Read our latest blog, as Magret Moffat, one of the group's beneficiaries, tells a story of how the program has already transformed her life through loans and business skills training.
Cultivating a Savings Culture in Malawi
As a way of cultivating a saving culture in the FEM Program, Orant requires each cohort to establish a savings group. Why is this important? Find out here.
Microloans for Malawian Women: An Interview with Tango Phiri
Insightful thoughts from Tango Phiri on Orant's Financially Empowering Microloans for Women Program.
Bountiful Harvest
The Orant Farm Project has transformed Teleza Manuwelo's life. With 2 acres for farming, Teleza earned enough income to feed her family.
Diversifying Small Business in Malawi
Ireen Henderson is a participant of Orant's FEM for Women Program. With a microloan, she has diversified her small business to build stability for her family.
How to Make Thobwa: Malawian Recipes
Learn how to make thobwa, one of Malawi’s common traditional beverages, with Maness Nkhoma's recipe. Maness is a FEM participant at Orant.
Microloans for Malawians on the Margins
Everyone who shops at Kasese Trading Post knows Goodwell Chimwanza, the tinsmith. He is always smiling; hard at work.
Women Village Savings and Loan Groups
Women Village Savings and Loan (VS&L) Groups cultivate a savings mindset in female entrepreneurs in Central Malawi.