Farmers, chiefs panic over AIP

Farmers and some traditional leaders have pressed the panic button over Ministry of Agriculture’s silence on Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) implementation status, saying it is not inspiring hope with the onset of rains weeks away.

They expressed their fears in separate interviews with The Nation amid the ministry’s blackout on the implementation status coupled with lack of activity on the ground regarding the programme.

The sentiments also come at a time the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Food Security said fertiliser stock in the country stands at 16 000 metric tonnes (MT) against a requirement of 400 000MT for both AIP and commercial traders.

But the ministry’s spokesperson Gracian Lungu yesterday said a statement will be issued “soon” detailing implementation status.

The Nation interviewed farmer clubs and associations, apparently formed after the government announced it would identify AIP beneficiaries through such structures, indicated that registration of beneficiaries was yet to start.

In a telephone interview, Blantyre’s Chigumukire Farmers Club  chairperson Ephraim Manda said normally registration of beneficiaries starts in September but there was no movement.

He said: “We have noticed that there is silence from the government and members [of the club] are anxious because time is not on our side. The rains will start soon.”

Estella Namandwa, who chairs Chiradzulu-based Gomani Farmers Club, shared Manda’s frustrations, saying they expect the government to at least communicate on the way forward.

Mulanje-based Thondwa Cooperative secretary Anthony Muhariwa said the government needs to come out clear on the AIP as members are losing hope especially since it is towards the rainy season.

During a recent Agriculture Committee Service Meeting in Chitipa, Senior Chief Kameme said they had been informed that the number of beneficiaries would be reduced.

“People are asking us as chiefs, and all we have told them is to wait for government because we don’t have answers as well,” the chief said.

Senior Chief Kayembe of Dowa said there has been no update on what will happen next, apart from submission of names of beneficiaries, there has not been any update on what will happen next.

She said previously, by now fertilisers would have been transported to strategic selling points within her area in Nambuma.

Karonga district director of agriculture, environment and natural resources Raphael Mkisi and Nkhata Bay District Council chairperson Patrick Manda also said they are still waiting for communication from Capital Hill on the implementation arrangement.

The two echoed M’Mbelwa District Council chairperson for Mzimba South, Evance Ndhlovu, who said they asked agriculture officials on the matter during a full council meeting last week but got no tangible response.

“We are worried because people heard that the number of beneficiaries will be reduced and they want to know if they will be included or not. Time is running out and the government is not telling us anything. Let the government come out now to avoid last-minute problems,” he said.

Kasungu district director for agriculture, environment and natural resources Patterson Kandonje and a senior agriculture official from Salima, who opted for anonymity, also said there is nothing tangible happening in the two districts regarding AIP.

But acting programmes manager for Karonga Agriculture Development Division (ADD), which covers Karonga and Chitipa districts, Enock Mzembe, said the activities will begin next week.

“We are starting next week with briefings for extension workers on how the whole programme will be implemented.

“I have received the number of beneficiaries, and we will also be going with the same to areas after the briefings,” he said.

However, speaking at the Umhlangano wa Maseko Cultural Festival, President Lazarus Chakwera gave an assurance that beneficiaries under this year’s AIP will access inputs in good time.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources agriculture economist Horace Phiri said the silence from government on the K109 billion programme was a cause for concern.

He said what was disturbing was that there are fewer quantities of fertiliser for both AIP and commercial use.

Phiri said: “Actors in the [agriculture] sector knew about supply challenges this year [partly] owing to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and one would have expected that they took deliberate actions to avert shortages.”

He said late delivery of fertiliser to farmers is imminent, which will also subsequently affect yields next year.

The recent shutdown of State produce trader Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc), a key player in the programme, is feared to complicate the situation, but Phiri said in the absence of Admarc, the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi and private traders should fill the gap.

In a separate interview, agriculture policy analyst Tamani Nkhono-Mvula said the government’s silence on the AIP casts doubts on the implementation of the programme this year.

He said the programme faces a huge catastrophe this year following the delays in certain crucial processes like identification of beneficiaries and arrangement of other logistics.

But Lungu said yesterday said a statement will be issued soon explaining the implementation status of this year’s programme.

Meanwhile, Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives executive director Sylvester Namiwa on Tuesday wrote the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture to summon Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe to explain the current AIP status.

In a letter dated September 13 2022, Namiwa says the committee must ask Lowe to explain if the AIP will be implemented and the current availability of fertilisers.

In the national budget, the government reduced the AIP allocation to K109.5 billion from K142 billion in the 2021/22 financial year.

In its maiden year of the 2020/21 financial year, the AIP was allocated K160 billion.

The AIP, a social facility that allows needy farmers to buy farm inputs at a subsidised price, is Tonse Alliance’s flagship election campaign promise which replaced the Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme implemented by the Democratic Progressive Party.