By Wezzie Gausi:
The programme’s history is mired in chaos; its present situation is misty.
At one point, authorities engaged a butchery in the United Kingdom (UK) to supply fertiliser, and, as should have been noted from the very beginning, the firm had nothing to do with trading in the commodity.
Today, in Tonse Alliance administration’s third year of implementing the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP), confusion appears to be far from over.
First, with the rainy season just a few weeks away, government has not come up with a list of farmers who will benefit from the programme, neither has it announced how much they will be required to fork out for the inputs.
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Now, the Ministry of Agriculture has told the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Irrigation that this year’s initiative will target productive farmers, leaving vulnerable households to social cash transfer schemes.
Speaking after appearing before the committee at Parliament Building in Lilongwe Thursday, Secretary for Agriculture Dickxie Kampani said the number of beneficiaries will be based on the expected fertiliser from the budget, carryover stock and donations.
“Of course, some beneficiaries from Salima, Balaka and Phalombe will be targeted for livestock production, where they will access goats,” Kampani said.
But chairperson for the Agriculture Committee of Parliament Sameer Suleman wondered how government will be able to implement something new “this late”.
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Suleman warned of an implementation crisis emanating from authorities’ failure to do thorough consultations and communicate to relevant stakeholders early enough about any changes to the “traditional structure” of the programme.
“I advise them [government] to make a proper assessment and analysis before implementing AIP. As a committee, we feel that the new arrangement is not right, looking at the time Malawians are learning about it.
“Let AIP take the format it has been taking in the past years. If there is a need to change it, let the ministry [of Agriculture] implement the changes in the 2024-25 season. As a committee, we do not support this move,” he said.
On the other hand, agriculture policy expert Horace Phiri said the new arrangement is what should have been the case all along.
Phiri said subsidised fertiliser and seed should be given to those with labour and land.
“That is when the country can see benefits from the programme. However, it is also necessary that only resource-constrained farmers should be targeted; that is those who really need the fertiliser but cannot afford it,” Phiri said.
In his presentation before the Agriculture Committee of Parliament, Kampani said each crop production beneficiary will access one 50-kilogramme (kg) bag of NPK fertiliser, one 50kg bag of Urea and one five kg packet of cereal seed.
“Each beneficiary for livestock production will access two female goats,” Kampani said.
Parliament approved K109 billion for the 2023- 24 AIP initiative down from the K117 billion allocated in the 2022-23 budget.
Meanwhile, 13 private suppliers have been awarded contracts by the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) to supply fertiliser.
About 17,492 metric tonnes (mt) of the commodity are reportedly being kept at SFFRFM warehouses under collateral management by four suppliers.
About 5,200mt of Urea under a Japanese government grant are being procured. There are also carryover stocks of 26,385mt, according to authorities.
Last month, the Ministry of Agriculture disclosed that it was targeting between 1.3 million and 1.5 million households for AIP, a reduction from last year’s 2.5 million.
