It is a fact that this year’s Affordable Input Programme (AIP) is in a shambles. So many things do not make sense. First and foremost is the delay in the whole programme. Ordinarily by now, everything should have been in place, from the list of beneficiaries to the fertilizer itself. But not this year. What is conspicuous this year is the blackout on the programme.
Then there is the budget. Government has allocated K109 billion for AIP this year targeting 2.5 million beneficiaries, each beneficiary to receive two bags of fertilizer to be redeemed at K15 000 per bag. Government will be subsidizing each bag with K40 000. The budget should have been double the K109 billion allocated to the programme.
To start with, the blackout on the programme is creating unnecessary tension and a feeling that government has failed to implement AIP this year. What is more worrying if not annoying by not giving people the necessary information, is that government is not preparing them for what they can do on their own in the absence of the freebies.
The growing season begins at the end of this month, October. Some activities of AIP include importation of the fertilizer, identification of the beneficiaries and distribution of the inputs. Importation of fertilizer needs a good three to four months. In other words, by now the fertilizer—about 200 metric tonnes (MT) for AIP alone—should have been in the country or the fertilizer should have started arriving in readiness for transportation to various parts of the country before the onset of rains as most roads become impassable during the rainy season.
But government has chosen to remain mum on the amount of fertilizer already in the country and what is being imported or needs to be imported. This can only mean bad news that is not fit to be shared with the public. But whether good or bad news, people still need to know it. Knowledge is power. Informing them is empowering them.
At least we know from the Fertilizer Association of Malawi that private suppliers have a deficit of 200 000 MT of fertilizer for commercial sales. Members of the association have not been able to import fertilizer because of forex shortage.
Then there is the total budget for AIP. Government announced that the total budget for this year’s programme is K109 billion targeting 2.5 million beneficiaries from 3.7 million last year. Each beneficiary will contribute K15 000 to redeem one bag of NPK and another K15 000 for Urea. In a few districts, Nsanje, Chikwawa, Rumphi and Balaka beneficiaries will not receive fertilizer but goats. Two each. But from my calculation if government will be subsidising one bag of fertilizer with K40 000, then it needs K213 billion for the 2.5 million beneficiaries and not the budgeted K109 billion that Parliament approved. Government is thus not telling us where it will get the additional K104 billion.
There are two things it may do. Either, it will slash the number of beneficiaries from the touted 2.5 million or it will to balloon the AIP budget to K213 billion to cover the targeted 2.5 million beneficiaries. Government is keeping all this information under wraps.
Even the statement government issued on Thursday clarifying issues surrounding K30 billion alleged to have been swindled does not make sense. Government says it engaged the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRM) to process the procurement of fertilizer towards the 2022/23 AIP. On its part, SFFRM is said to have contracted a number of companies to supply AIP fertilisers and one of such companies was a UK-based firm called Barkaat Foods Limited, how did SFFRM settle for this company? Was it through a public tendering process? When? What are the other companies that bid for the contracts? People want to know. Why is everything under wraps?
