Opinion: Chakwera Has Killed The People of Malawi With His Corruption And Incompetent Government

I left home on Friday 29 December 2023 on an aimless walk to no particular place. Then I met someone I have frequently chatted with on a number of occasions. We greeted each other after which I was asked if I had planted already. I responded that I will go farming next farming season specifically focusing on crops that do not need any chemical fertilizer.

Then I will spend almost a year producing manure for Maize production for the next farming season. I think we have reached a point where we should take good production seriously at family levels and do away with chemical fertilizer and embrace manure.

However, I’m afraid Malawi is likely to harvest less than what we expect in the 2023/2024 harvesting season. From the government’s approach to AIP fertilizer program, it is so erratic that we don’t seem to be going in the right direction of food security. Even the policy makers do not know exactly what the future really looks like and which factors must be addressed that may cause low food production in the country.

Tonse Alliance Government is accused of preferring Commercial farmers to our farmers. The people of Nanjiri have cried foul that government has started supporting Nzeru Za Abambo Farm with Agricultural Inputs Program (AIP) fertilizer leaving out the poor farmers. What has been reported is a serious abuse of programs given to wrong people meant for particular beneficiaries and what would one call this?

Poor farmers feel neglected by Tonse Alliance Government regarding AIP. The farmers are not benefiting from the program the way they are supposed to. Tonse Alliance Government aims at making the poor people become even more Pete than ever before.

Reports indicate that only few poor farmers are benefiting from AIP fertilizer program on the ground. One farmer from Nanjiri reported that only 2 or 3 families were able to get fertilizer for this farming season. Another farmer from Ntchisi said only about 300 families from 4 villages were able to access AIP fertilizer from government this year. He said millions of people in Ntchisi are disappointed with government’s approach and handling of AIP as they do not see the importance of the program anymore.

*Conclusion*

Minister of Agriculture Hon Sam Kawale and Minister of Information Hon Moses Kunkuyu were contacted but did not respond to our questionnaire as we went to press.

The Ministry of Agriculture early this year said 1.5 million farmers will benefit from the 2023 Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) in which the farmers will be buying a bag of fertilizer at K15,000. Malawi’s national budget for the upcoming fiscal year allocates K117 billion to the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP), of which K110 billion is earmarked for fertilizer subsidies.

President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera in October 2023 officially launched the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) with a message that the country must get into serious agricultural productivity to turn around the economy. The launch took place at Kavidebwere Primary School under Kaluluma Extension Planning Area (EPA) in the area of Traditional Authority Kaluluma in Kasungu. Chakwera said the country must exploit the opportunities in the agriculture sector to produce more crops for both consumption and export.

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