President Lazarus Chakwera has criticised corruption in agriculture initiatives describing it as a stumbling block to the realisation of food security in the country.
He was speaking Monday at Mkaika Community Day Secondary School ground in Nkhotakota at a development rally he addressed after inspecting crops in Traditional Authority (TA) Mwadzama in the district.
The President said he is saddened that some unscrupulous people were involved in corruption in the Affordable Input Program (AIP) which is meant to help poor people attain food security.
“This practice is bad. I hear some people even went to the extent of filling the fertilizer bags with sand to dupe farmers,” said a visibly concerned Chakwera.
He assured farmers that his government has put in place strategies to ensure that purchase of farm input for the 2022/2023 farming season is done timely and efficiently.
Minister of Agriculture, Lobin Lowe, said Nkhotakota offers a good agriculture environment for cultivation of various crops including Industrial Hemp saying his ministry is working towards finding better ways to ensure that the district goes into serious cultivation of the crop in order to benefit many farmers.
Senior Chief Mwadzama thanked the President for the crop inspection initiative but asked government to speed up construction of the M5 road observing that it was in very bad shape.
The president visited seven sites in TA Mwadzama, which included maize, groundnuts, cotton and Soya bean fields.
By Stanley Nkhondoyachepa – Malawi News Agency
