For five years since the government labelled it “a priority within priorities”, the Green Belt Initiative (GBI) is yet to show any tangible results.
Records at the Treasury and Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) show the project has failed to take off due to government’s lack of interest to finance it.
The Bingu wa Mutharika regime in 2010 allocated K2 billion, but all that funding apparently went back to Treasury due to “low absorption capacity” at the project secretariat.
Records we have seen indicate that while the Joyce Banda administration also touts GBI as a priority area, it has not matched the rhetoric with funding.
In the 2013/14 national budget GBI—an initiative meant to help the country sharply reduce its dependence on rain-fed agriculture—has been allocated K1 billion. The same amount was allocated to GBI in the 2012/13 budget only to be revised to K800 million during mid-term review.
But still, the Ministry of Agriculture—which also runs the welfare project called Farm Input Subsidy Programme (Fisp) that has received K60.1 billion in the 2013/14 national budget—still insists that GBI is a priority area.
Said public relations officer Sarah Tione: “As a ministry, GBI is a high priority within the sector knowing that the development of irrigation infrastructure under GBI will assist farmers to harvest a second crop within a year.
“Such production will not only curb food security [problems] but also increase sources of income for smallholder farmers within the earmarked GBI zone since irrigation under GBI aims at promoting high-valued crops.
“As a sector, we realise that an increase in agricultural production among smallholder farmers has a multiple effect along the whole sector resulting in agricultural growth and development.”
GBI national coordinator Dr. Henry Njoloma described the initiative as the way to go.
“We have several plans on the ground and GBI can turn around the Malawi economy because it is not a welfare issue. It is a business,” Njoloma said in an interview.
Treasury spokesperson Nations Msowoya also insisted that GBI was still a priority despite the mean budgetary allocations.
However, all this enthusiasm contradicts what is on the ground.
For example, last year Njoloma said Chikwawa Irrigation Scheme in Salima—one of the three pilot irrigation schemes—would be complete by July this year.
But to date, the scheme is largely in its design and earthwork stages, according to authorities in Salima. What is more visible at the site are unfinished pump houses, they said.
A work plan sourced from Treasury shows that GBI had planned to complete the sugar scheme and have it fully commissioned by Wednesday July 31 2013.
In an interview, Njoloma acknowledged that the deadline will not be met due to funding levels.
“It is worrisome that we don’t have enough resources in the budget to complete the three sites and now it is even more worrisome that even the single sight cannot be completed,” he said, refusing to elaborate.
While this year’s budget has only allocated K1 billion for GBI, the initiative needs K2.5 billion for Chikwawa Irrigation Scheme alone in Salima covering 6 293 hectares and billions more to complete two other pilot schemes by the end of this year as envisaged.
The other two schemes—Nthola-Ilora- Ngosi in Karonga covering 1 000 hectares and Malombe scheme in Mangochi covering 500 hectares—need over K2 billion, according to Njoloma.
But our research shows that so far, GBI is failing to pay its contractors, Plem Construction Company, K 312 569 511.61.
Njoloma refused to discuss these figures, but documents we have seen show that invoices demanding this payment are dated March 25, 2013.
Policy contradiction
A presidential statement signed off by President Joyce Banda in the introduction to the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS II), places GBI among priorities of the JB regime.
The GBI concept note says the initiative aims at consolidating the gains made from interventions such as Fisp by intensifying irrigation farming, livestock and fisheries development, among others.
In its 2011-2016 strategic plan, GBI expects to increase sustainable irrigation farming from 90 000 hectares now to at least 200 000 hectares and increase agricultural exports.
The rationale behind GBI is that Malawi has depended on rain-fed agriculture to achieve food security, increased income and ensure sustainable socio-economic growth and development.
“Over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture has led to low agricultural production and productivity due to weather shocks and natural disasters [unreliable rainfall patterns, erratic rains, dry spells, pest and diseases, droughts, floods, etc,” reads an extract from MGDS II on GBI.
The MGDS II is the government blueprint on which the current government has grounded its development agenda which gave rise to Economic Recovery Plan (ERP).
While the ERP also touts the initiative as a priority of the Banda administration, the insinuation has not been marched by financial commitment as budget figures for GBI have been dropping over the years.
Figures from Treasury indicate that in addition to funding for the general irrigation programmes through the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development, GBI has received the following since its inception: K200 million for 2009/2010, K2 billion for 2010/11, K200 million for 2011/12 and K800 million 2012/13.
“Over and above the government allocation for the programme, in 2010/11 Development Partners [China and Fica] provided K4.5 billion towards GBI,” said Msowoya.
He defended the K200 million reductions from the 2012/13 GBI budget as not unique to GBI alone: “The reduction was done across the board. It affected all government-funded projects.”
Meanwhile, while GBI, a supposedly business-oriented initiative, is being stifled on funding, the 2014/15 budget has increased allocation to what members of Parliament have called “non-priority areas not in line with both MGDS and ERP.”
Chairperson of the Budget and Finance Committee of Parliament Eunice Napolo said the committee was concerned about the increases in such votes as State residences, the vice-presidency and internal travels.
The current budget has given State Residences a 99.4 percent increase with its budget, moving from the approved K1.8 billion to K3.675 billion while the Vice-Presidency has 96.56 percent increase from K301 million to K592 million.
“Other examples include the huge increases to internal travel from about [K16 billion] to [K33 billion], representing close to 108 percent increase [or K17 billion more]. One wonders if this signifies living within the spirit of austerity,” she said.
The top-ups on State residences, internal travel and vice-presidency make up a total of K18.1 billion, which is K13.6 billion more than what would have enabled GBI to establish three schemes at K4.5 billion.
Also, the K18.1 billion is enough to establish about seven schemes budgeted at K2.5 billion each, as per figures GBI presented to Treasury for Chikwawa.
Writing in the GBI strategic plan, President Banda said the initiative is expected to contribute towards the attainment of some of the nine Key Priority Areas (KPAs) that are spelt out in MGDS II.
These are, she said, Agriculture and Food Security; Green Belt Irrigation and Water Development; Infrastructure Development; Integrated Rural Development; and Climate Change, Natural Resources and Environmental Management.
In food security, Admarc—the country’ national grain marketing agency— is currently importing maize from Zambia at the time that Fisp is getting an increased budget ostensibly because it has helped Malawi become food secure.
Currently, there are no records at the Ministry of Agriculture to show how many “poor” farmers have graduated from the Fisp programme, eight years down the line, according to Tione.
Reports are that Admarc is importing maize at a cost of K83 per kilogramme and selling it at K60 making a K23 loss per kilogramme.
Admarc chief executive officer Dr. Jerry Jana had not responded to our questionnaire to corroborate these figures sent to him on Wednesday as we went to press.n
