Ali Kalichero is an award winning radio producer and journalist based in Malawi with vast experience in news writing and editing. He has worked with Trans World Radio (TWR Malawi) as news editor and Pentecostal Life Radio (PL FM) as chief news editor. He has also written for online publications like Orako Times, Malavi post, and Water Journalists Africa, a network of African Journalists who report on Water and Sanitation. He has covered includes covered politics, business, economic and social issues among other beats.
As Malawi continues to face challenges in balancing its economy and with job creation, some are taking on poultry farming for economic relief.
Jackson Shabana, a 30-year-old civil engineering graduate from the Malawi polytechnic, and his wife Maureen, age 29 and also a graduate, are earning a living through poultry farming. The couple ventured into poultry after recognizing their salaries from their respective jobs were not enough to sustain them to the end of next month.
Experts in fishery believe investing in fish production by involving more stakeholders would help boost socio-economic development at household and national levels.
It has been well documented that Lake Malawi’s fish biodiversity is unmatched worldwide. The lake harbors more than 1,000 species of fish. Chambo species, said by locals to be the “most” delicious and juiciest fish, can only be found in Lake Malawi. Despite this, people living in the lake’s vicinity continue to face economic hardships.
A 5 billion kwacha cotton ginnery located in the eastern region district of Balaka opened last January and is expected to increase production for small-scale farmers. The ginnery, which is one of three in the country, is also estimated to provide employment directly and indirectly to about 3,000 people from Balaka and the eastern region. Two other ginneries are located in the Karonga and Chikwawa districts.
Business experts describe efficient and consistent telecommunication services as being among the major drivers of business sector growth in any economy.
The business community and citizens in Malawi are facing long standing telecommunication challenges and inefficiencies by telecommunication operators, rendering negative effects on the business environment, therefore contributing to the dwindling of the already crippled economy.
Small-to-medium enterprises in Malawi have formed a new group aimed at boosting exports, called SME-4X. SMEs account for a large part of the business community in Malawi, however, most only sell their products locally, at low prices, making it difficult for them to grow.