By Patricia Kapulula
Minister of Information and Digitalisation, Moses Kunkuyu, has emphasised the need for Malawi to graduate from financing subsistence farming to agricultural commercialisation if the country is to attain the much needed food security at national level.
Kunkuyu, who is also government spokesperson, made the remarks at the Central Office of Information (COI) in Lilongwe on Tuesday during a press briefing on the status of the 2023/2024 Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Programme (2023/2024 LS-FIRP).
Kunkuyu said the country is going towards that direction through provision of agriculture loans to farmers, as well as establishment of mega farms.
“We are now giving agricultural loans to farmers through National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF). These were farmers who were benefitting from the Agricultural Inputs Programme (AIP),” Kunkuyu said.
He said AIP is undergoing reforms and, as such, the number of beneficiaries keep changing in order to allow farmers graduate from subsistence to commercial farmers.
Speaking on the current food insecurity situation, Kunkuyu said government has put in place interventions implemented through maize distribution and cash transfer programmes.
The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) 2023 report indicated that 4.4 million people will be food insecure and in need of food assistance during the 2023/2024 consumption year.
“In response to the projection, government, through the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) and in collaboration with humanitarian partners, facilitated development of the 2023/2024 LS-FIRP to mobilise resources and effectively coordinate the programme to address needs of food insecure people,” he said.
The exercise, which started in October 2023, has so far reached out to 4,375,448 food insecure people with either maize or cash.
In his remarks, Commissioner for DoDMA, Charles Kalemba said the Department is working hard to ensure deserving beneficiaries are reached out with either maize or cash.
In his State of the Nation Address during the opening of the 2024/2025 Budget Meeting of Parliament, President Lazarus Chakwera said his administration is committed to redesign AIP to make it more target-oriented in achieving food security.
The programme targeted 1.5 million farmers, with land holding sizes of 0.25 hectares to two hectares, to benefit in the 2023/2024 growing season and are expected to produce 1,125,000 metric tonnes, contributing to over 32 percent of the national grain requirement.
