By Cathy Maulidi:
As Malawi is preparing to roll out the 2023- 24 Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP), it already has 87,000 metric tonnes (mt) in stock, a senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture has said.
“Some of the suppliers that may get contracts already have fertiliser in warehouses. There is about 87,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser already available in the country,” Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary responsible for Technical Services Medrina Mloza Banda told members of the Agriculture Committee of Parliament yesterday.
The 2023-24 AIP fertiliser requirement stands at 149,164mt and, with 87,000mt already in stock, the country may need 62,164mt more to top up.
At the moment, fertiliser prices on the international market are ranging from $670 (about K670,000) to $1,000 (about K1 million) per mt.
Kampani said early preparations would be key to AIP success.
“We are just hoping that, by the time they [suppliers] start ordering more fertiliser, there will be adequate forex in the country. The beauty is that we have started early and we will be able to monitor the availability of fertiliser before the time,” Kampani said.
Meanwhile, AIP Coordinator Justin Kagona has said the country has 13,570 metric tonnes of carryover fertiliser from the previous farming season.
“From this tonnage, 6,654 metric tonnes is NPK while 6,916 metric tonnes is Urea,” Kagona said.
He said 13 fertiliser suppliers have been identified, adding that the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority has given a no objection.
“Government Contracting Unit cleared the contracts on June 19 and the Ministry of Agriculture submitted contract documents to the Ministry of Justice on the same day. Negotiations and [the] awarding of fertiliser [contracts] will be done soon,” Kagona said.
However, ministry officials could not be drawn to comment on how many people will benefit from the 2023-24 AIP.
Agriculture Committee of Parliament Chairperson Sameer Suleman said it is good that the country has some carryover fertiliser.
“In addition, they have promised us that they are putting everything in place and that this year’s AIP will be a success. They should let us see the action,” Suleman said.
