164 firms to supply subsidised inputs
Ministry of Agriculture says it has given retail warehousing and distribution contracts to 164 suppliers for the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) fertiliser.
In an interview on Sunday after President Lazarus Chakwera launched the 2021/22 programme in Chiradzulu on Saturday, the ministry’s spokesperson Gracian Lungu said the suppliers will further be supported financially by commercial banks to enhance their capacity.
He said that about 400 companies expressed their interest to supply and provide warehousing services for the farm inputs.
Lungu said: “The ministry has over 87 percent of the total fertilisers that the 2020/21 farming season requires and the balance is in transit into the country.”
During the previous season, some suppliers were removed from the list due to lack of financial capacity which also partly affected delivery of the programme.
But Lungu on Sunday expressed optimism that the partnership the ministry has facilitated between the various commercial banks and suppliers will ensure such issues of financial capacity are addressed.
He also said the ministry was strict in identifying the suppliers to ensure that those selected meet all the contractual obligations under the programme.
Besides, Lungu said beneficiaries must expect smooth processes in accessing the farm inputs as the ministry has made improvements to avert any challenges.
He also said beneficiaries with expired national identity cards will still be able to access the farm inputs.
Lungu said hard-to-reach areas will be catered for by State agencies, namely Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) and Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM).
In an interview on Sunday, Fertiliser Association of Malawi executive administration officer Mbawaka Phiri said the decision to go into contract was on individual firm basis as government has not yet granted the association audience on the capped price of fertiliser which the association protested against as being too low.
She said this year, few members of the association have been awarded contracts compared to last year.
“Last year, there were 15 companies, but this year they are less than that. For the actual number, I will have to check,” said Phiri, adding the association will keep pushing for talks on the fertiliser prices.
He hoped that government had made proper assessment of the companies’ capacity to avoid being disappointed.
In his speech during the launch of the 2021/22 AIP at St Theresa in Chiradzulu on Saturday, Chakwera said government is devising an exit strategy of the programme, one of which is to ensure that farmers’ incomes increase so that they can be weaned off the programme.
This year’s programme is designed to benefit 3.7 million households who will be expected to cough K7 500 for a 50-kilogramme (kg) bag, up from the highly heralded K4 495 implemented last year.
After winning the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election held on June 23 2020, the Tonse Alliance administration increased the number of AIP beneficiaries from 900 000 under Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme (Fisp) implemented by its predecessor Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to 3.7 million.
The development led to a bloated allocation of K160 billion compared to about K40 billion for Fisp.
