AIP budget In limbo

 Tonse Alliance administration’s Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) for 2023/24 fiscal year faces hostility as some members of Parliament (MPs) threaten to block its allocation if government does not explain the new design.

The MPs have taken this stand following government’s inability to provide finer details on key policy changes that it announced to make to the programme—now in its third year of execution—during the upcoming farming season.

Parliamentary Budget Cluster Committee on Agriculture and Food Security and Natural Resources and Climate Change co-chairperson Sameer Suleman said it was surprising that government proceeded to increase the programme’s budget (from K109 billion to K117 billion) before finalising the reform process.

Said Suleman: “Before we start looking at the financial aspect, let us first iron out the nitty-gritty to appreciate the new design because there is nothing on the ground. This is just another talk and we will sing the same song because there is no political will.”

He said although the committee was yet to debate the AIP vote, the general feeling of the MPs is for government to first iron out all outstanding issues and provide a clear implementation plan before “we can pass the budget for AIP.”

Suleman wondered why government rushed to allocate funds to AIP when it does not have information on how and when the programme will be carried out, who will be the beneficiaries and how many, the quantities of the inputs, where they will be sourced and under what procurement method and the indicative prices, among others.

Agreeing with Suleman in a separate interview, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament chairperson Mark Botomani said while they welcome plans to reform the programme, they are worried with lack of a detailed plan for the kind of reforms government wants to make.

He said: “Technically, it is very difficult to appropriate money to a programme which has no detailed plan of expenditure. So, until the Minister of Finance [and Economic Affairs] comes out clear on this, we will have problems to believe that these much touted reforms will materialise.”

But Botomani’s counterpart, Werani Chilenga, said the issue of blocking the AIP budget could only be addressed once the Ministry of Agriculture appears before the cluster committee next Tuesday.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Shadric Namalomba, observed that good tenets of accountability, transparency and governance demand that “you budget for something you know”.

“We cannot just give out money because in the absence of such basic information then it’s not a budget… By not disclosing more information, one and particularly us from the DPP, will be seriously concerned and worried because we fear the rot and looting of AIP funds that happened in this season will repeat itself.”

He said: “Worried that MCP will loot these resources meant for AIP and for the poor farmers towards funding their political campaign for 2025. We, therefore, agree with MPs demanding disclosure of full information before the AIP vote is approved in Parliament.”

On her part, Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance chairperson Gladys Ganda said, in a separate interview on Thursday, that her committee was still scrutinising the budget and could only comment once “my committee finalises the process and also after reviewing recommendations from various clusters.”

Other stakeholders such as the Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) and the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party have also asked government to come out clearly on the proposed reforms.

But Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale, in an interview on Tuesday, demanded the concerned legislators and stakeholders to present definite details they need to be provided with.

He insisted government had been explaining the issue of the redesigned programme in various statements such as Chakwera’s national address in October, 2022, the AIP launch in November 2022, Sona and the 2023/24 budget presentation.

But our analyses of the said speeches by President Lazarus Chakwera and Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Sosten Gwengwe, apart from just announcing that the reforms would enhance targeting, efficiency and mitigate risks and introduction of more safety nets, there were no further details of the reforms.

Kawale disclosed that there was no specific number of targeted beneficiaries as the figures would depend on the passing of the budget as well as the international fertiliser prices.

But MCP acting publicity secretary Ezekiel Ching’oma hit back at Namalomba, arguing that it is sheer madness for the DPP to allege that the government wants to loot money meant for AIP to fund the MCP campaign and urged the erstwhile governing party to prove claims of public funds looting.

“On the contrary, this government is exposing and acting on any allegations of corrupt practices, even from individuals thought to be very close to the President.”

Commenting on the proposed reforms, an agriculturalist and FUM president Leonard Chimwaza urged government to earmark productive farmers when   reforming the programme.

“These farmers have productivity improvement in the mind when doing agriculture business hence the need for them to be part of the programme. Government can also consider earmarking group production either through well-organised schemes, associations and clubs,” he said.

Chimwaza doubted how government would implement the programme with an allocation of K117 billion when during the 2022/2023 season the Ministry of Agriculture grappled for additional resources to flexibly implement it.

“We are wondering how government will do the programme with a slightly increased allocation. How many farmers will be part of the redesigned programme? What’s the estimated tonnage of seed and fertiliser?” he questioned.

Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources economist Henry Kankwamba agreed with Chimwaza, saying government needs to target productive farmers as they can easily get more output per unit of inputs accessed.

He said: “Let the subsidy designers use the available data in abundance to isolate productive farmers. Completely isolate AIP from social protection. Link farmers to markets with ready off-takers. This will stabilise food prices and the poorest might easily access food through markets. Reduce the number of rent seekers.”

President Chakwera announced in October last year government’s intention to overhaul the programme to make it more targeted and efficient during the coming season, a statement he repeated in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on February 17.

In his Sona, Chakwera said it had become evident in the programme’s three years of implementation that it continues facing challenges including ineffective targeting of beneficiaries, high cost of farm inputs and delayed procurement.

Gwengwe in his budget presentation two weeks ago also mentioned that AIP—which with an allocation of K117 billion is K8 billion more than the previous year’s allocation—would undergo various necessary reforms to enhance targeting, efficiency and mitigate all risks.

The 2022 Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee Annual Assessment estimated that 3.8 million people in over 845 000 households may still not meet their food requirement during the 2022/23 consumption period