Parliament yesterday authorised Malawi Government to borrow USD27,700,000 (about K30 billlion) from International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for additional financing for rural irrigation.
Minister of Finance Sosten Gwengwe said the loan bill will help to improve rural irrigation farming in the country.
“As a country, we cannot rely on one farming season to alleviate hunger due to impacts of climate change,” said Gwengwe.
He said Malawi can improve crop production by encouraging rural communities to go for irrigation which will also contribute to economic prosperity of Malawi.
He then called on Malawian farmers to embrace the notion of irrigation to improve livelihoods.
In his contributions before the bill was passed by members, Member of Parliament for Zomba Ntonya Ned Poya said there is a need for Parliament to get a report from the line Ministry of Agriculture on how the original money bill of 2016 was used.
He said he is not sure if districts mentioned to have benefited from original financing have anything on the ground.
“It is time to start auditing all debts the country gets to establish if the loan was used for intended purpose,” he said.
In his view, Poya said leaving the way things work, the country will continue borrowing but without any impacts on the ground.
Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda commended Poya for the good suggestions saying it is the way to go so that each loan should have impact on the ground.
