Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) says farm inputs redemption by farmers meant to benefit under the Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme (Fisp) is at around 70 percent.
About 1.1 million farmers across the country were registered to benefit under the 2025-26 Fisp designed to protect the country’s poorest households from hunger by subsidising fertiliser and seeds.
SFFRFM spokesperson Grace Thipa revealed the percentage to journalists after Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Thoko Tembo visited the government-owned company offices and its warehouses at Chirimba Industrial Site in Blantyre.
She said one of the challenges the programme has experienced is transportation of inputs to hard-to-reach areas due to poor road conditions.
Said Thipa: “There are some areas which are hard to reach. We had to source support from other government departments including the Malawi Defence Force who are assisting us.
“We are very assured that at the end of the season we will be able to reach out [all] the people who are supposed to benefit from this programme.”
In his remarks at the end of his familiarisation tour, Tembo, who was appointed deputy minister on January 5 this year, hailed SFFRFM, but acknowledged that there have been challenges that the government has been working on.
He encouraged farmers to grow alternative crops in the face of dry spells, promising that the government will find markets for the crops.
“There will be announcements coming up, but I don’t want to preempt. We are doing quite a lot to make sure that people have the necessary markets,” said Tembo.
Every beneficiary is supposed to buy a 50 kilogramme bag of NPK and another of Urea at K10 000 each.
But some beneficiaries and watchdogs have been reporting delays, shortages and alleged corruption that are leaving farmers without the inputs they need during the maize growing season.
