Petro Mkandaiwre

Blantyre, January, 23, Mana: Southern Region Press Club (SRPC) has purchased a one-hectare piece of land worth K2.5 million as one way of establishing the club’s cooperatives.

The land, which is situated at Whayo Village in Traditional Authority (TA) Kapeni in Blantyre, will be turned into a poultry and piggery farm in order to improve living standards of media personnel.

SRPC President, Ronald Amos told Malawi News Agency (MANA) in an interview on Monday that the vision of the club is to be innovative and create an environment where members of the press can attain economic growth and independence and be a vital link between financial stability and the ability of journalists to operate with autonomy and integrity.

“There is collusion between media freedom and lack of financial freedom because our media freedom is being compromised by lack of finances. As such, we want to empower journalists by having an entrepreneurship drive that would benefit them,” said Amos.

SRPC members will be able to buy shares from the cooperatives and the cooperative will create a comprehensive business plan that outlines the goals, objectives, and strategies for the group.

According to Amos, the more shares a member buys the more the dividends he/she gets.

SRPC was established with a vision to foster solidarity and collaboration among media. It is rooted in a profound understanding that economic empowerment is the cornerstone of journalists’ independence as it unifies force for the journalist community in the southern and eastern parts of Malawi.

One of the SRPC members, Britta Mpata, who is also willing to join the cooperative said farming is a potential pathway for smallholder producers to gain access to more lucrative market opportunities thereby improving livelihoods and reducing poverty. 

“As a member, this is my opportunity to acquire new skills. Through these press cooperatives journalist poverty will be mitigated as it will boost life standards as well as food security,” said Mpata.