Government has announced that Affordable Inputs Program (AIP) beneficiaries will this year be buying a 50kg bag of fertiliser at K15,000.
For seed, the farmers will be buying at a price of K5,000 for a five kg packet.
Chairperson of the Cabinet Committee on AIP Richard Chimwendo Banda made the announcement at a press briefing which took place in Lilongwe.
Speaking to the press, Chimwendo noted that due to some changes, government has cancelled tenders that were floated for the supply of AIP fertiliser through suppliers.
According to Chimwendo, this is in an effort to ensure that the commodity is accessible to poor farmers.
Chimwendo also assured Malawians of a tight security system to ensure smooth implementation of the program.
“The approved budget of 109 billion kwacha was given as a way of helping farmers in the country as wished by President Lazarus Chakwera.
“And let me say it here that 2.5 Millon farmers will be assisted under the AIP for this year’s farming season. Right now the country has been assisted by Morocco with ten thousand metric tons, World Food Program has assisted with 20 thousand metric tons and Africa Development Bank has assisted the country with 20 thousand metric tons of fertilizer,” explained Chimwendo.
The Smallholder Farmers Fertilizer Revolving Fund of Malawi will implement AIP on behalf of the Government.
President Chakwera will launch the program on 19th November and all is set for the launch.
