The Mega Farm Support Unit (MFSU) has initiated investigations following reports that some beneficiaries of the programme are selling farm inputs after redeeming them.
According to a communication Weekend Nation has seen, the unit began an inspection exercise in Dowa and Ntchisi on December 24 2024.
The communication states that the inspection team, which includes stakeholders such as the Malawi Defence Force (MDF), will use a list of farmers who have redeemed fertiliser, seed and herbicides.
The communication shared with beneficiaries on a WhatsApp group reads: “If a farmer is found to have sold part or all of the inputs, the inspection team will ensure recovery of everything and blacklist the farmer from re-ceiving any loans within Malawi.”
The exercise will resume after the Christmas break, with targeted districts to be communi-cated soon.
“In view of the above arrangements, we ad-vise all farmers to cooperate and be reachable whenever the inspection team contacts you,” the communication adds.
When contacted, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said he is yet to receive details of the exercise and referred this reporter to director of the unit, Alfred Mwenifumbo.
However, Mwenifumbo did not respond to our questionnaire sent to him last week.
Meanwhile, a farmer, whose identity has not been disclosed, has been arrested and faces charges of theft by pretext, according to a message shared on the group.
The communication adds that MFSU has also received additional names of suspected farm-ers, and investigations are ongoing.
The misuse of inputs undermines the pro-gramme’s goal of enhancing productivity and commercialisation for economic transfor-mation and food security.
“It is for this reason that the unit is working tirelessly to ensure that farmers get the ser-vices they need on time. So far, the fertiliser redemption process is going on well, and the majority of farmers have redeemed NPK and Urea,” reads the communication.
Government says it has mobilised over 931 medium and large-scale farmers to produce various crops in its mega farms initiative.
Under the 2023/24 roadmap, the mega farm programme targets a minimum of 175 000 hectares of agricultural land, starting with 25 000 hectares in 2023/24 and scaling up to 175 000 hectares by 2028/29.
During his Mid-Year Budget Review Statement, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Sim-plex Chithyola-Banda said government was banking on the mega farms initiative to ad-dress the current socio-economic challenges facing Malawi.
“Malawi is an agricultural-based economy, and food prices are often closely tied to agricultur-al production. In response, the government has implemented measures to support food security, including increasing support for irri-gation schemes and promot ing agr icul tural productivity,” he said.
In the roadmap, besides maize, other crops and livestock are also targeted. These are rice, wheat, soyabeans, groundnuts, dairy milk, beef, piggery, and poultry.
According to a farmers we spoke to, the vetting process for all mega farm farmers was initially smooth until individuals suspected to be Malawi Congress Party (MCP) followers began to interfere.
The farmer, who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “There is no equal treatment now. These party followers are being favoured despite not having farms. They were registered and given inputs, while genuine mega farmers have not received anything. We should be applying fertiliser now.”
The farmer further claimed that two weeks ago, he was sent to Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) to collect fertiliser but was turned away and directed to Paramount Holdings.
Upon arrival there, he was told to return to SFFRFM because discussions had not been completed.
Meanwhile, Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) has confirmed that it is aware that some beneficiaries are selling the inputs and described the conduct as unfortunate.
In an interview on Friday, FUM president Manness Nkhata said some of the malpractices are being perpetuated by poor implementation of the programme.
She said: “From last year, most of the targeted farmers received fertiliser very late when it was far beyond the application time. The same is also happening in the current farming season as most farmers are yet to receive all the inputs. Only few farmers have received seeds but most of them are yet to receive fertiliser.
