By Durell Namasani
Minister of Information and Digitalisation, Moses Kunkuyu, says the easy access to agricultural inputs through the National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) has attracted women and youths to venture into farming as a business.
Kunkuyu said this Tuesday at Santhe Trading Centre when he launched the distribution of fertilisers to farmers under the NEEF Farm Input Loan Programme in Kasungu District.
Government has set aside K150 billion to be disbursed under the programme which supports the Agriculture Commercialisation pillar under the Malawi 2063.
“We are going back to the previous years when Malawi used to be food sufficient and this was because people were able to access farm inputs.
“The President said we can go back to that again. Here we are, distributing farm inputs. We want our farmers to produce more, not just for food but also for exports so that we are able to generate more forex,” Kunkuyu said.
He said more youths and women have benefited from the loans, raising hope that the country will produce more maize.
The minister also awarded Senior Chief Santhe with K300 000 following the 100 percent repayment of the previous loans in the area.
In her remarks, Santhe thanked government for the loan programme saying it will help to create more independent households and reduce the number of those under social protection initiatives.
NEEF Board Chairperson Jephta Mtema encouraged the farmers to get down to work and ensure that they reap the benefits of the loans.
While expressing excitement for getting the fertiliser, Kennedy Chizunda of Apatsa Maize Club appealed for timely disbursement of the inputs in the subsequent years.
Last year, government spent K27 billion on the Farm Inputs Loan Programme before raising it to K150 billion this year.
With a national average of 85 percent repayment of all loans under NEEF, Santhe area in Kasungu is one of the leading areas in repayment at 100 percent.
