By Emmanuel Moyo
Karonga District Council Chairperson, Belliam Msukwa, has challenged Ministry of Agriculture to perfect the processes of Agricultural Subsidy Input Programs (AIP) with an aim of avoiding challenges farmers faced in the past farming season.
The call was made during 4th Karonga District Council Agricultural fair on Thursday under the theme Agricultural innovations – key to agri-based industrialization.
In an interview, Msukwa described early preparations as a best way in handling problems that farmers would face in accessing AIPs.
“The earlier is always better, so it would be good if the ministry would already look into setting up all the required machines and make sure that upon bringing the inputs, network is smooth for farmers to easily access the fertilizer.
“Previously faced network challenges in accessing the farm inputs to the extent that some farmers failed to apply fertilizer into their fields in time because of the delays in accessing them,” he said.
He has since pointed out that there is need to also supply the inputs in time.
On his part, Programs manager for Karonga Agriculture Development Division (ADD), Aggrey Kamanga, assured farmers that they need not to worry about the challenges.
“This year farmers should not expect challenges in accessing AIP as we previously had a meeting where it was disclosed that network system has been updated to accommodate many beneficiaries,” he said.
The fair saw different cooperatives around Karonga showcasing their farm produce and products.
Christian Aid is among the organizations that are supporting women in cooperatives around Karonga.
