Mlimi Radio to boost agriculture productivity

Farm Radio Trust, an organisation that specialises in agricultural and rural development programmes, says the coming of their radio station, known as Mlimi Radio, will help transform farmers’ livelihoods.

Addressing the press in Lilongwe earlier this week, Farm Radio Trust chief executive officer George Viliri said Mlimi Radio FM which will be officially launched on March 25, 2023, will be broadcasting programmes to equip farmers with information related to markets and pricing of their produce, among others.

He said the initiative automatically moves the organisation from relying on public and private radio stations for its content to developing its own programmes that cater to the needs of local farmers.

“This will help us address challenges we have been facing by relying on public and private radio stations for our programmes, including the provision of timely and relevant information to farmers.

“This was heavily being affected by technical and logistical issues experienced by radio stations such as power blackouts and breaking news, to mention a few,” said Viliri.

He said besides focusing on agriculture, the station will also be airing programmes on education and health, topics which also play a critical role in agriculture as an engine for economic development.

In terms of content production, Viliri said Ulimi Radio will focus on transformative agriculture as the engine of economic development amid climate-related challenges being faced by the sector.

“We all know agriculture is the engine of our economy, but the question we will be answering as Mlimi Radio through our programmes is, how do we effectively transform the sector in relation to climate change to contribute effectively to the economy?

“We will have to reach the farmers with such information so that they put it into practice and make double profits from their farming activities,” he explained.

The radio station will be run by Farm Radio Trust Holdings Limited (FHL), a subsidiary of Farm Radio Trust whose vision is to be a leading multimedia institution in Malawi that provides competitive and quality ICT solutions and products.

Mlimi Radio was awarded a National Commercial Sound Content Licence by Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority in July 2021, and is already broadcasting to 15 districts.