Govt hopeful on timely AIP

Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale says the ministry has engaged 13 companies to supply 149 164 metric tonnes (MT) of fertiliser for 2023-24 Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) to ensure that farmers access the inputs before the first rains.

In a statement issued on Monday on the progress of the AIP, the minister said the companies already have about 80 000MT of fertiliser in the country which is about 53 percent of the quantities needed for both NPK and UREA.

The companies awarded contracts to supply fertiliser are Optichem Limited, ETG Inputs Ltd, Farmers World, Afriventures Blantyre Limited, Mediterranean Fertilisers DMCC, Malawi Fertiliser Company, Saeed Investments, Chipala Investments, Sealand Investments Ltd, Midima Holdings Ltd, Chipiku Stores, Zathu Trading and Paramount Holdings Limited.

Said Kawale: “About 80 000 metric tonnes of fertiliser is already in the country, which is 53 percent of what we need.

“The balance will be in the country before we launch the programme.”

He added that procurement of transportation services is at an advanced stage.

“Award of contracts to successful transporters is expected to be given by July 31 2023. The procurement of seeds and female goats for the programme will be advertised in widely circulated newspapers in a week starting from July 2 2023.

“It is expected that smallholder farmers will access all farm inputs before the first planting rains,” said Kawale.

On how many beneficiaries the government is targeting for this season, Ministry of Agriculture AIP coordinator Justin Kagona said the figure will be announced later.

However, calculations based on the volumes of fertiliser to be supplied by the 13 companies indicate that the 149 164 MT can cater for 1 491 64 0 beneficiaries if each beneficiary receives two 50 kg bags.

Last month, the ministry indicated that it has a carryover of 13 000MT of fertiliser which can cater for 130 000 farmers.

In total, 1 621 640  beneficiaries are expected to benefit if the beneficiaries contribution will not be used to buy more fertiliser and if there will be no further support from development partners.

However, government also indicated that it has been engaging development partners for support.

Asked when the programme will roll out and whether the forex shortage in the country will not affect the purchase of the remaining quantities, Kagona said Principal Secretary (PS) for Agriculture Dickxie Kampani or PS for Irrigation Services Geoffrey Mamba were better-placed to comment on the matter.

Kampani could not be reached on his phone, while Mamba also said the number of beneficiaries will be determined by the Cabinet.

On issues of forex and if money allocated in the budget will be adequate, Mamba said the AIP coordinator or Kampani were best placed to comment.

In a separate interview, Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Irrigation chairperson Sameer Suleman called for the need to inspect the fertiliser companies to ascertain if indeed they are stocking over 80 000MT of fertilisers.

He said the committee will check if indeed there are those quantities available.

“We want this year’s programme to be implemented successfully. We don’t want a repeat of last year,” said Suleman.

He further called on government to be transparent on the programme, saying the country needs to know how much government is paying for the fertiliser.

He also wondered why the ministry is not coming up with the list of beneficiaries arguing that by now the number of beneficiaries, their names and criteria used in selecting the beneficiaries should have been established so that those that do not make it on the list should start preparing to buy on their own.

Government reduced the budget for this year’s AIP from K117 billion to K109 billion.

Of the K109 billion allocated, K102 billion is for fertiliser, K6.562 billion for seeds, K0.585 billion for goats and K0.67 billion is for logistics.