Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary responsible for Technical Services Medrina Mloza Banda has said they are almost done with the task of preparing names of beneficiaries.
Banda said Malawians should not be worried because beneficiaries will start accessing inputs, targeting people that plant with first rains, in October this year.
“We are working on the list and, very soon, the names will be released. People should not get worried because we still want that, by October, beneficiaries should start accessing the inputs,” Banda said.
The development comes at a time Farmers Union of Malawi (Fum) has faulted the government for failing to release the list of farmers to benefit from AIP by now, saying this has the potential to push people into food insecurity.
Fum President Manes Nkhata said many farmers are already under stress due to the rising cost of commodities and are most likely going to fail to buy fertiliser, considering prevailing market prices.
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“The high prices of fertiliser will affect many smallholder farmers as they will not be able to access fertiliser at the prevailing market prices, which will push millions of farming households into food insecurity and undernutrition.
“The conduct of the government, which is failing to give information on the list of beneficiaries and farmers’ contributions to AIP, puts farmers in a difficult position to plan for the season,” Nkhata said.
Meanwhile, Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture Chairperson Sameer Suleman has faulted the government for failing to release the list of AIP beneficiaries.
“There is lack of seriousness at the ministry. It has never happened that, by this month, people do not know the list of names to benefit from AIP. By now, farmers would have known how much they will contribute and the criteria. The games being played at the ministry will not take us anywhere,” Suleman said.
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A total of 150,000 metric tonnes (mt) of fertiliser would be sold under AIP in the 2022-23 farming season, 75,000mt for Urea and 75,000mt tonnes for NPK.
In the 2022-23 farming season, the government targeted 1.7 million farmers who were buying two bags of fertiliser, weighing 50 kilogrammes (kg) at K15,000 each.
The programme was, however, marred by multiple challenges, including delayed deliveries that prevented some farmers from accessing the commodity.
Currently, prices of fertiliser on the local market range from K60,000 to K80,000 per 50kg bag.
