Karonga district director of agriculture services Yaz Nyirenda has urged smallholder farmers to shift their focus from Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) to other institutions such as the National Economic Empowerment Fund (Neef).
The call is contained in a report made available to the Full Council by the council’s Agriculture Services Committee on government’s decision to scale down AIP budget and number of beneficiaries.
In an interview on Monday, Nyirenda justified the shift, saying it is due to reports that this year’s AIP budget has been reduced from last year’s K160 billion to K107 billion.
He said: “With K160 billion budget last growing season, Karonga District had 10 333 AIP beneficiaries. So, with this year’s K107 billion budget, it means we will have lesser beneficiaries as compared to last year.
“Therefore, we can say that government is trying to empower farmers not to rely on handouts; hence, the need for farmers to shift and benefit from Neef and Agriculture Commercialisation.”
Karonga district Neef credit manager Whyghtone Mweta said Neef targets to disburse between 200 000 and 400 000 bags of fertiliser to 200 000 farmers in Malawi.
