People living around Kafukule, Malidadi and Mpherembe in Mzimba West are concerned over food shortage this year as they have failed to buy fertilizer under the Affordable Input Program (AIP) because of the system government is using.
Many families in the area are failing to buy the 50kgs of fertilizer due to network glitches in the constituency.
Mabaso Chisi, a father of four, said he is worried that the situation will lead to hunger.
“I tried to buy this fertilizer but nothing works. We spent hours, days only to learn the difficulties of network. I am not alone, many families here didn’t buy this fertilizer, it’s a worrisome situation where most gardens are not giving promise harvest and we expect shortages of food in the area,” said Chisi.
In a separate interview, Simion Matupi from Malidade said the network system that Government put in place must be removed in next farming season.
“We ask Government to remove the system in the next farming season, look we are not yet having this fertilizer because of difficulties on network,” he said.
Member of Parliament of the area Billy Kaunda said he is aware of the problem and he already asked Government through Parliament to consider the community.
“I am aware of that people of my constituency Mzimba West are having the challenges of buying this fertilizer and I presented this in Parliament and Government promised to bring in WiFi to at least boost the network but up to now nothing happening,” said Kaunda.
He asked Government to open Admarc depots so that people can access to buy maize as his area is facing some challenges including hunger.
The AIP programme started in October last year and is expected to end on 20 February. Under the programme, over 3.7 million farmers were expected to buy fertilizer at a subsidized price of K4,495.
