Prices of fertiliser have lately gone up on the market, The Daily Times has learned.
The development is likely going to affect farmers who do not benefit from the government’s flagship initiative, namely the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP).
Spot-checks we conducted in several districts of the country indicate that the price of the soil-enriching product has gone up by an average of K10,000 per 50 kilogramme (kg) bag .
A 50kg bag of NPK, which was selling at around K83,000, is now selling at K93,000 while that of Urea is being sold at K90,000 from K82,000.
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A 50kg bag of CAN is selling at around K83,000 from around K76,000.
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This was the case in Nkhotakota, Salima, Mzimba, Balaka, Machinga, Zomba, Ntcheu, Nsanje and Blantyre.
In Balaka shops and vendors workstations, we found that NPK, Urea and CAN fertiliser was being sold at K93,000, K90,000 and K83,000, respectively.
According to a farmer Mike Mulewa, fertiliser prices were hiked some three weeks ago.
In shops in Nsanje, a bag of NPK is being sold at K92,800 while that of Urea is selling at K90,000.
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The prices are not different from those we observed in other districts.
Farmers Union of Malawi Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jacob Nyirongo described the development as sad news to farmers.
“It means most farmers will not be able to buy fertiliser, which might, in the end, affect output. This can also affect the availability of maize next year. It is not only prices of fertiliser that have gone up but those of seeds as well. So, if a farmer does not have money to buy fertiliser and seeds, definitely yields will be affected,” Nyirongo said.
The CEO further advised farmers to use manure and organic fertiliser as alternative solutions to the problem.
On his part, agriculture policy analyst Leonard Chimwaza said high prices of farm inputs always affect crop yield.
“For farmers to realise optimum yields, they have to use adequate inputs. But because of the expensiveness of inputs such as fertiliser, it means we should expect low production.
“As alternative means, farmers can use locally made organic fertilisers in order to supplement organic fertiliser they can manage to buy,” Chimwaza said.
When contacted, Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) Chief Executive Officer Richard Chikunkhuzeni referred us to Fertiliser Association of Malawi, whose executive officer Mbawaka Phiri said the problem had come about as a result of forex shortage.
“We are aware that this is an unfortunate development for farmers.
“However, it has been necessitated by challenges with forex scarcity and the increased replacement cost of the product,” she said.
When asked if this would not affect stock levels of fertiliser, Phiri said they were still collecting stock levels and gave us an online link of Africa Fertiliser Data Driven Decisions for African Food Systems.
The Malawi Fertiliser Dashboard indicated that, as of July this year, Malawi had imported 33,523 metric tonnes of fertiliser.
The fertiliser includes NPK, Urea, Diammonium Phosphate and Muriate of Potash and others.
When contacted on the likely implication of rocketing prices on implementation of AIP in the 2024-25 rain-fed agriculture season, Ministry of Agriculture spokesperson Geoffrey Banda said, globally, prices of fertiliser were still high.
He said the prices may not go down anytime soon.
“On top of that, devaluation of [the] Kwacha has also affected the price.
“However, the Ministry of Agriculture has been very proactive to assist farmers to have access to affordable fertiliser.
“It is for this reason that we passed the fertiliser Act in Parliament, which allows farmers to use different types of fertiliser that is very good for the soil and crops,” Banda said.
He said that was the reason they had introduced new fertiliser products to the market.
“As we speak, we have maize inoculants, organic fertiliser, organo mineral fertilisers and Nano fertilisers.
These fertilisers are now on the market and we are encouraging every farmer to shift from expensive chemical fertilisers to new types of fertilisers that are cheap and also very good for the soil and crops,” Banda said.
Speaking on Saturday, when members of the Commissions, Statutory Corporations and State Enterprises Committee of Parliament toured SFFRFM’S warehouse in Blantyre, the fund’s board chairperson Paul Kamlongera said that they were prepared to roll out this year’s AIP.
Kamlongera, however, lamented challenges they were encountering to import fertiliser due to forex challenges.
Beneficiaries of AIP have this year been reduced by 400,000 as 1.1 million farmers are expected to benefit from the initiative, down from 1.5 million people who got subsidised inputs last season.
