By Malawi News Agency
Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale has assured Malawians that preparations for the 2023/2024 Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) is at an advanced stage as government has finalised with bidding and evaluation processes for 15 companies that are set to supply fertiliser across the country.
The Minister made the sentiments in an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA) on Saturday amid media reports regarding the East Bridge fertiliser deal.
The company has dismissed fears of fraud saying it (the company) is taking the risk as it is not taking upfront payment from the government of Malawi.
“So far, what has remained is a no objection from Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) and after that we will be signing contracts in a week or two.
“By the end of this month we are going to have a whole lot of fertiliser in the country and in July and August we will just be planning for logistics,” Kawale said.
He said, this year, government has planned AIP in four categories of those under social cash transfer such as the elderly and those with disabilities, those under Public Works Program, those on actual AIP program and those under Agriculture Commercialisation.
The Minister said Agriculture Commercialisation is one big side of investment where government has allocated over K265 billion towards the programme.
In the agriculture commercialisation programme, beneficiaries would be those who take farming as business and venture into big agricultural mechanisation, such as crop production and livestock farming, among others.
On East Bridge deal, the Minister said Malawi is set to benefit from the deal because more forex will be generated which will, in turn, boost the economy.
“The deal will, among others, save forex as this is a commodity exchange which means no forex will be used to pay for fertiliser because we are currently unable to pay for adequate fertiliser due to shortage of forex.
“This will also help supply of 600,000 metric tons of fertilisers which will be enough to supply fertiliser to Malawi for two years and in turn help farmers have access to fertiliser all year round,” said Kawale
He said the country stands to save US$498 million from the fertiliser deal with East Bridge whose money will be used in other equally important development projects.
Kawale said, furthermore, the deal will help open international markets because East Bridge will buy produce from Malawi at an international price which would be higher than local prices hence more forex.
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