Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development says about 105 310 households have so far redeemed their inputs under the Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme (Fisp), representing 9.6 percent of the targeted 1.1 million beneficiaries.
The ministry has dispatched at least 284 284 bags of fertiliser, representing 13 percent of the total tonnage to be dispatched, according to Arnold Namanja, who was the ministry’s spokesperson until last weekend when government recalled such officers.
This year’s programme was launched on November 12 while last year it was launched on October 14.
In a written response, Namanja said 160 726 of the dispatched bags are for NPK fertiliser while 123 558 are for Urea.
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“All districts except Likoma are selling the commodity with Likoma starting today [yesterday] after Ilala shipped the consignment for the district,” he said.
As of November 27 2025, farmers had redeemed 98 989 bags of NPK, representing 4 449.45 metric tonnes (MT) and 87 117 bags of Urea, representing 4 355.85MT.
Agriculture policy expert Tamani Nkhono Mvula said in an interview yesterday that the rate of redemption involves a lot, but what matters is the availability of fertiliser and urged the ministry to fast-track the distribution.
“Let us not only look at the figures, but also the timing,” he said.
Another expert, Leonard Chimwaza, acknowledged that this year’s programme was launched a month later as compared to last year, hence the redemption rate cannot match.
“Definitely, we couldn’t have a similar performance due to the late launch,” he said.
However, Chimwaza urged the ministry to prioritise provision of NPK to areas that receive rains early and make sure the beneficiaries are redeeming maize seeds for increased harvest.
Minister of Agriculture, I r r igat ion and Water Development Roza Mbilizi officially launched the 2025/26 Fisp on November 12 in Mchinji District when she pledged that the government would fast-track delivery of the inputs.
She said over 30 000MT of the farm inputs procured from Zambia were already in the country and being distributed in all districts.
Mbilizi implored Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi sales clerks in all 600 selling outlets nationwide to desist from extorting money from farmers, saying the law will catch up with those engaging in the malpractice.
Last year, former president Lazarus Chakwera launched what was named the Affordable Inputs Programme in October, targeting 1.1 million beneficiaries and by November more than 10 000MT of fertliser was distributed
