President Dr Lazarus Chakwera will on Saturday launch the 2020/21 Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) in Zomba district.
This is according to a statement released on Thursday signed by the Secretary to the President and Cabinet Zangazanga Chikhosi.
Chikhosi through the statement said the launch will be conducted at Pirimiti boys primary school ground at Jali in the area of Traditional Authority Mwambo in Zomba district.
“His Excellency Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi, will launch the 2020/21 Affordable Inputs Programme at Jali in the area of Traditional Authority Mwambo, Zomba district,” reads part of the statement.
The AIP, which will see over 4 million smallholder farmers buying a 50kg bag of fertilizer at nearly K5,000, is one of the key electoral promises made by the Tonse Alliance during the 2019 campaign.
For the first time, the programme will only be accessed by Malawians who have a national identity card and there will be no use of coupons this time.
Recently, minister of Agriculture Robin Lowe announced that all hard to reach areas will be prioritised in this year’s provision of the affordable farm inputs.
Lowe further said his ministry has developed a good technology system for the programme to fight fraud compared to the previous programmes where more fraud cases were reported.
