By Chisomo Phiri
The Umodzi Party(UP) has expressed deep concern over the growing irregularities in the Affordable Inputs Program (AIP), which threaten the success of the initiative and undermine the government’s efforts to achieve food security.
In a statement seen by this publication, the party’s president Thomas Wezzie Kaumba has highlighted several challenges faced by program beneficiaries, including missing names from the beneficiaries’ lists and incorrect representation of names.
He says these irregularities are causing unnecessary distress among smallholder farmers who rely on the program to access affordable agricultural inputs.
Kaumba says despite complaints being lodged with the responsible authorities, little to no action has been taken to address these issues.
The UP president has since called on the Ministry of Agriculture to urgently intervene and rectify these anomalies.
He has also emphasized that ensuring efficiency and transparency in the AIP is critical for the nation to realize its goal of achieving sustainable food security.
Kaumba says his party remains steadfast in advocating for the needs of Malawians and has urged responsible authorities to prioritize this issue to prevent further disruptions to the farming season.
He has further called for all eligible beneficiaries to be provided with their inputs on time and has emphasized the need for a collective effort to ensure the success of the AIP for the benefit of the nation.
AIP is an initiative by the Malawi government to provide affordable agricultural inputs to smallholder farmers.
The program aims to improve food security and promote agricultural productivity in the country.
