By Chisomo Phiri
The Mzuzu Civil Society Network has called on the government to consider increasing the number of beneficiaries for this year’s Affordable Inputs Program (AIP).
Speaking during a press briefing in Mzuzu on Wednesday, chairperson for the Network, Pastor Moffat Phiri said a continuous decrease in the number of beneficiaries is worrisome.
Phiri said: “We are concerned with numbers here. This year’s subsidy program will benefit 1.5 million people only but we are almost 21 million in Malawi.
“If this is the case, then we won’t see our agricultural produce selling on the international market to fetch the much needed forex. This is because 1.5 million people will be tasked to feed the remaining population.”
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 1.5 million farmers will benefit from the 2023/24 Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) in which the farmers will be buying a bag of fertilizer at K15,000.
