AIP targets 490 449 families in Lilongwe

Lilongwe District Council agriculture cluster chairperson councillor Mathias Kavala says 490 449 farming households will benefit from the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) during the 2022/23 farming season.

Speaking during a full council meeting yesterday, he said beneficiaries will be identified through their farmer groups before a screening process at the Ministry of Agriculture to ensure that only those in active farming activities benefit.

“According to the guidelines that have been provided, these households should possess at least a field of approximately 0.4 hectares,” he said.

Lilongwe Central legislator Lobin Lowe, who is also Minister of Agriculture, said government has given farmer clubs the opportunity to prelist their members to ensure that only farmers benefit from the programme

“There were challenges in the programme as some people sold their national identity cards to enable others to buy cheap fertiliser and seeds,” he said.

Among other guidelines, Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme beneficiaries will not benefit from the programme.

This year, farmers are expected to contribute K15 000 to buy a 50 kilogramme bag of fertiliser while government will contribute K40 000.

The programme is supporting 2.5 million households during the 2022/23 farming season in the country.