Parliament approves K276bn Agcom Bills
Parliament has passed two money bills to authorise the government to receive a total of K276 billion from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank and the International Bank for Reconstruction (IBR) to implement Agricultural Commercialisation (Agcom) Phase Two project.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Sosten Gwengwe commended members of Parliament (MPs) for passing the two bills to have government receive the two grants for the Food System Resilience Programme, saying the money will help promote food security in the country as it will help to empower farmers to embark on agricultural activities.
The bills have authorised government to receive K260 billion from the IDA and K16 billion from the IBR.
“Any nation must strive to achieve food security. We cannot achieve food security through subsistence farming. Agriculture commercialisation is the way to go,” said Gwengwe.
The minister said as the country is preparing for the farming season, the Agcom resources will also help empower farmers.
He added that with increased funding for Agcom, the country should expect more people to benefit from the K95 billion funded programme.
The programme is expected to reach 134 400 beneficiaries and will run for six years.
Gwengwe said Malawi should expect more grants than loans from the Word Bank and African Development Bank as part of the commitment by the two banks to help the country fight its economic challenges.
“From the IDA and the World Bank generally, we can expect more grants in this period that Malawi is going through rather than more loans as it is,” he said.
In response, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson on the bills Werani Chilenga said the party supports the bills as they will help improve the agriculture sector, food security and empower Malawians economically.
He called on government to utilise the resources to address food security issues and climate change.
“The two bills are good bills. As DPP, we wholly support the receiving of the grants, as they will benefit the country.
He added that government should show commitment to addressing hunger by empowering the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation to buy maize sell it to Malawians facing hunger
On their part, United Democratic Front spokespersons on the Bills Esther Jolobala and Lilian Patel also supported the Bills, saying the agriculture commercialisation drive will help promote food security, empower farmers economically, create jobs and boost exports.
Jolobala said the country needs to focus on value addition to promote import substitution.
Gwengwe also tabled the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad) Loan Authorisation Bill which seeks to have government borrow K30 billion as additional financing for the Financial Access for Rural Markets, Smallholders and Enterprise Programme.
He also tabled another Ifad Bill which seeks to authorise government to borrow K29.2 billion as additional financing for the Programme for Rural Irrigation Development.
The two bills have since been referred to the Budget and Finance Committee to scrutinise them before they can be discussed in the House.
