Kawale waffles as AIP faces delays

With the rainy season a few months away, farmers have expressed concern over the implementation of the 2024/25 Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP).

But while not disclosing the progress of the AIP implementation so far, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale last week told Nation on Sunday he will deliver a ministerial statement in Parliament during the ongoing 5th Meeting of the National Assembly.

AIP national coordinator Justin Kagona was yet to respond to our inquiry on the same as we went to press yesterday.

However, according to our findings, as of last week, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) was yet to approve suppliers of the inputs programme.

Moreover, registration of beneficiaries is also yet to start.

This is in sharp contrast to the progress registered during the same period last year when suppliers had already been identified.

To make matters worse, identified suppliers are expected to be paid in local currency and will have to shoulder the burden of sourcing forex to purchase the AIP fertilisers.

Treasury allocated K161 billion in the 2024/25 National Budget for the programme, which this year will target 1 054 945 beneficiaries, a drop from last year’s 1.5 million.

The reduction in the number of AIP beneficiaries has been observed over the past few years.

For instance, when the programme rolled out in 2020, it benefitted 3.7 million farming households while in the following year the figure was trimmed to 2.5 million.

In 2022, the figure remained at 2.5 million, but was further reduced to 1.5 million in 2023.

In an interview on Wednesday, Farmers Union of Malawi president Maness Nkhata said the expectation was for suppliers to be given contracts at the start of September.

She said the timing was to give suppliers ample time to import fertilisers and for beneficiaries to start accessing them by September or early October in preparation for the rainy season, which this year is expected to be characterised by the La Nina weather phenomenon.

Said Nkhata: “Having implemented AIP for the past three years, we expected government to learn and improve on the management of the fertiliser supply chain so that the programme can achieve its intended objectives.”

Nation on Sunday yesterday tried to get an update on the current fertiliser stocks from Fertiliser Association of Malawi administrator Mbawaka Phiri who could not be reached.

But in June, she said due to foreign exchange challenges, the country had a 350 000 metric tonnes (MT) shortfall as the stocks stood at 50 000MT.

As such, Phiri warned there would be delays in the implementation of AIP should the process of ordering fertilisers delay further.

Appalled by the silence on the AIP implementation, legislators on Wednesday queried Kawale, who responded by saying he would update the nation once processes are finalised.

The AIP, which succeeded the Farm Input Subsidy Programme implemented under the former governing Democratic Progressive Party, is a social facility that allows resource-constrained smallholder farmers to access farm inputs at subsidised prices.

But since AIP rolled out in 2020 under the current Tonse Alliance regime, the programme has been marred with numerous challenges, including late delivery of fertilisers and seed, logistical challenges compounded by rough terrains during the rainy season, network glitches and alleged corruption, among others.

Such challenges have been adversely affecting beneficiaries with some receiving inputs late, rendering the inputs useless.

Mwapata Institute chief executive officer William Chadza in an earlier interview said such delays are worrisome.

“The likely effects are increased costs on farmers who may resort to the alternative of sourcing commercial inputs to mitigate the impacts of late delivery,” he said.

In recent years, numerous stakeholders in both the agriculture and economic sectors have been calling for the abolition of the programme on the basis that it does not serve its intended purposes as annually, billions are spent on it, yet millions of farming households remain food insecure and are still supported by the same taxpayer who pays for AIP subsidies.

The stakeholders also cite alleged corruption; hence, they have been arguing that billions that are spent on the programme can be channelled into other productive sectors.

In the midst of the criticisms, President Lazarus Chakwera in 2021 indicated that government was pondering exit strategies of the programme.