The Big Issue Malawi is a street paper in Malawi. It is a bimonthly magazine sold only by homeless individuals. The project's facilitator is a local charity known as the "Culture Awakening Society" The Big Issue Malawi project started on 24 January 2009 with the first issue of the magazine coming out in January 2009.The founder and current Executive Chairman of the project, Dr. John Chikago, imported the street paper concept from Japan, where he was working as Malawi's ambassador. He said that he was fascinated by the experience of The Big Issue Japan and decided to establish a similar project in Malawi.