The purpose of the study was to investigate the information needs and barriers of rural smallholder farmers in Mzimba North in Malawi. A mixed methods approach was adopted for the study and the Wilson’s Model of Information Behaviour (1996) guided the study. A questionnaire and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data from 202 rural smallholder farmers. The study found that the major information need of rural smallholder farmers was crop husbandry as revealed by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 149 (77.6). The study found that majority of rural smallholder farmers 180 (94.8%) were aware of information sources. The study also found that the predominant information sources consulted by rural smallholder farmers were personal experiences as indicated by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 185 (96%). The major challenge faced by rural smallholder farmers was lack of mobility as revealed by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 147 (76.6). The study recommends that the Department of Agriculture Extension Services (DAES) should empower the social structures such as families in rural settings with agricultural information.

The literature from some selected developing countries has demonstrated that rural smallholder farmers need various information sources in pursuit of their goals of increasing production and improving their living standards. According to the sampled studies, the majority of smallholder farmers access information on crop production. Smallholder farmers are aware of information sources despite challenges faced in accessing and using information. The majority of smallholder farmers access information through personal experiences, family members and friends. Despite access to various information sources, the literature has shown that smallholder farmers face various challenges in accessing and using information sources. The major challenges reported by the literature are lack of mobility, lack of finances, lack of rural information centres, and lack of visits by extension officers. The review has highlighted the lack of literature on the information behaviour of smallholder farmers in Malawi despite the fact that the country is an agricultural economy. The review is adapted from the Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) thesis authored by Austine Phiri at Mzuzu University.

The paper presents a study that examined the information-seeking behaviour of first-year undergraduate students at Mzuzu University, Malawi, by focusing on three research objectives, namely the information needs of first-year undergraduate students, the predominant sources of information for first-year undergraduate students, and information-seeking barriers of first-year undergraduate students. The study stratified the sample into five faculties and distributed questionnaires with a mix of closed-ended and open-ended questions to 215 first-year undergraduate students. According to the study findings, 135 (62.7%) students who returned the questionnaires predominantly need information for academic work such as assignments, test and examinations. The predominant sources of information used by students are library books, lecture notes or handouts, and text books assigned to the course with scores of 100 (74%), 98 (72.6%) and 63 (46.7%) respectively. The study concludes that as much as library books are the main source of information, the unavailability of relevant books, poor Internet connectivity, students’ lack of computer and search skills, frequent power outages, and underdeveloped ICT infrastructure including low Internet bandwidth, were found to be the inhibiting factors that students faced in accessing and using some information resources at Mzuzu University. Mzuzu University can mitigate some of these challenges by investing in ICT infrastructure and through the department of Library and Information Science and the library working collaboratively in teaching information literacy to students.

With competition becoming more intense and complex, the market orientation perspectives dictate that enterprises whether large or small have one choice if they are to survive the torrent and turbulent market environment in which they operate to upgrade their internal business activities and to integrate events from the external environment. This article is concerned with knowledge management (KM) and competitive intelligence (CI) as springboards for competitive advantage in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, the study investigates how KM and CI can be a source of competitive advantage to SMEs in Mzuzu, Malawi. Based on the findings, we demonstrate the combined effect of KM and CI on the success of enterprises or competitive advantage.

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