By Linda Kwanjana
President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has directed the Minister of Agriculture to ensure that all the beneficiaries of the Affordable Input Programme to receive the fertilizer within 40 days.
President Chakwera has made the directive during the launch of this years AIP programme at Nkhamenya in Kasungu district.
President Chakwers has also directed the Minister to ensure that his Ministry gives periodical updates to Malawians on the progress of the programme.
He said: “I am directing you, Minister of Agriculture, to ensure that all the farming households that qualify to have this fertilizer to do so within 40 days.
“Additionally, within that period, I am directing you to give Malawians regular updates on the progress being made in the distribution of the fertilizer across the country.”
While noting that there have been some mishaps on the programme, President Chakwera said AIP has improved food security to many households in the last three years than any other period before.
“While we do not claim that the AIP is a perfect solution, it is undisputed that for four years running now, the AIP has achieved food security for more Malawians than any other programme in the past,” added the President.
Meanwhile the Minister responsible Sam Kawale has disclosed that a total of 102 000 metric tones of fertilizer is already in the country, this translates 73 percent of the total input required for the whole exercise.
A total of 1.5 million people are expected to benefit from this year’s AIP initiative.
