Written By: Lloyd M’bwana
The country’s private sole agricultural information provider Farm Radio Trust (FRT) has challenged Malawian farmers to take advantage of rapid population growth as a leeway for better markets where their produces could fetch rewarding prices.
The call comes amid dwindling of agricultural systems which has led to food insecurities while all in all the country has freshwater bodies including lakes, rivers and fertile soils that with proper usage the nation could be a regional basket of various food products.
With funding from Flanders, FRT has for many years fostering rural and agricultural development in Malawi through the use of radio and other information and communications technologies (ICTs).
In an exclusive interview with The Maravi Post on Friday, March 11 after hosting the first ever Agro Info Business Forum in the capital Lilongwe, Rex Chapota, FRT Executive Director hinted that time was ripe for private sector being pacesetters of agricultural transformation unlike being perpetual of the past failed followers.
Chapota said it was high time for rebranding the country’s agricultural sector to agriprenuership with holistic type of extension and advisory services coupled with quality information delivery mechanism.
“For a long time, radio has been used just to raise awareness just to disseminate information about good farming practices. But at Farm Radio Trust we say time has come using radio as business forum where traders, buyers, processors, bankers, credit facilities can come together discussing issues which serves the sector without being at one place in time. This is the reason we hosted the first ever agro info business forum for stakeholders in the agricultural sector to strike deals.
“Therefore, it’s high time the sector’s players could take advantage of population rapid growth as better time to venture into serious agro-business bearing in mind that the demand for food which comes from agriculture is so high that like provide already made markets. Let’s utilize the population boom by producing quality agricultural produces which might fetch better prices.
“This is the reason we are looking forward striking deals on how FRT and private sector can work together and collaboration in a bid to open up the agricultural industry to be a robust sector. Very soon we shall be developing the Mlimi app and Agro-Portal that will deliver Agro-solutions to actors in the sector”, discloses Chapota.
Farm Radio Trust was officially registered as a trust in July 2009 and registered as an NGO with the Council for Non-Governmental Organizations’ in Malawi (CONGOMA) such that key activities and main functions including providing farmer advisory services through impactful radio programming in conjunction with other ICTs, training
and building capacity of broadcasters and radio stations, promoting participatory radio campaigns facilitated by the use of ICTs, researching, documenting and managing knowledge surrounding beneficial, evidence-based farming practices and farm radio programming, advocating for an amplified position of radio and ICTs in agricultural development, as well as for increased access to agricultural information by smallholder farmers and supporting partnerships and collaboration within the farm radio world and associated industries.
Among notable programs FRT is currently implementing includes Participatory Radio Campaign (PRC), Radio Market Place (RMP), Interactive Farm Radio Services (IFRA) and Mlimi Hotline in partnership with Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar)-Bunda Campus and media houses including M’mudzi wanthu, Mzimba, Chanco, Nkhotakota community radio stations, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Zodiak.
