Malawi increases price of subsidized fertilizer by 600%: Minister says govt has been ‘pushed left and right’
Smallholder farmers waiting to benefit from 2015-2016 Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) should begin to consider revising their budget now, the cost of buying two bags of subsidised fertilizer and seeds is now at K8500 from K1, 150.
This means cost of contribution towards the FISP for each bag of fertiliser has gone up by 600%.
Each 50kg bag of fertilizer for FISP was previously costing K500, now Government has decided to put each bag of fertilizer at K3500 translating a total cost of K7000 (seven thousand kwacha) for Urea and NPK fertilizer bags.
Now, 5kg packet of maize Seed will cost K1000 and for a packet of legume seed farmers will contribute K500.
Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Allan Chiyembekeza announced the changes at Capital Hill in Lilongwe, saying this follows reforms that government has taken in response to calls.
“This year, the programme beneficiaries will be contributing quite substantial amount of money” he said before announcing the new costs
“We as government have been pushed left and right because everybody continued to say that we are spending too much money on the Farm Input Subsidy at the expense of other Government programmes which we understood and to some extent agreed,” said Chiyembekeza.
He said:“So there was need for some kind of reforms in the Farm Input Subsidy Programme.”
Justifying the adjustments Chiyembekeza said:“All this has been done in response to the outcry because this is what many people wanted including donors that at least we would want to make contribution of the farmer to be seen to be reasonable so that at least they can also feel that they are part of the programme”
Previous years, a farmer was contributing K500 (five hundred kwacha) for each fertilizer bag and it costs them K1000 (one thousand kwacha) for two bags. And for seed maize, it was K150 while legume seeds were given out for free because there was support from development partners on seed part.
However this year the Minister revealed that “We still haven’t been assured whether there is going to be that support”
The Agriculture Minister also indicated that as part of reforms in the programme, the private sector will be involved in the supply, distribution and direct retail of some of the fertilizer earmarked for seven selected districts as pilot.
“We are doing this as a pilot because we don’t know whether it will work as people anticipate. So we don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket. If this proves to be more cost effective and more efficient than the system we have always used, definitely future farm input subsidy programmes will be used through this system” he said
But Chiyembekeza clarified that the remainder of the districts will follow the same old system where Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) and ADMARK will be markets for the FISP fertilizer.
He also hinted that procurement of fertilizer will be done by SFFRFM but evaluation for the bids of fertilizer which opened on 31st July 2015 will either be completed end of this week or early next week.
Chiyembekeza while indicating that bids for transport will be done this Friday 7th August 2015, said beneficiary identification will be done in due course.
FISP will clock 11 years since its implementation, with an aim of achieving food self sufficiency and increased income of resource poor farmers through increased maize and legume production.
The 2015/2016 budget allocated K41.5 billion for the programme targeting 1.5 million beneficiaries. From the budget, Government will procure and subsidize 150 thousand metric tonnes of fertilizer where; 75 thousand metric tonnes will be for NPK fertilizer and another 75 thousand metric tonnes of fertiliser will be for Urea.
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People in rural areas are managing to build brick house with cement and iron sheets while a civil servant is far from that waiting for retirement token. Village fellas will definately manage that increase and I was not benefiting directly from that unsustainable program just waisting my tax on pple who were inturn selling the product after receiving it. Big up government my tax will now other meaningful development.
Am Afraid,i Foresee Another Year Of Hunger Crisis In Malawi.What A Mockery!
But did you guys decide very well or maybe u just following up what some ppl mle & donnors complaint, Nyasaland is undeveloped country & our poor Grands never manage to get money like that, do you want to kill people? Maybe is the way of chancing something? Mmmm
…you got enough & you got tired. How dare you did shame.
Thats why chakwera and his fan was saying that, the burget u planned was better 4 only Peter n fell friends in simple better 4 u rich pple, ama DPP fan but this is 2 much kwacha ikungozigwera yokha nthawi yogulitsa fodya ngat iyi so msika mukaseka forex mukaitenga kut
Tanlekani dala kuitchula kuti sabuside.zidapita kale ni obingu ni ojoice
omwe onkapanga manifesito imeneyo.tachilandila ife boma lidziyenda zikomo.
Welcome Development. Anthuwa Akagula K500 Amagulitsa K14,000 Per Bag Samachotseranso Ndiye Tisawamvere Chisoni.
I dont kno how organic fertilizer application would improve soil texture as someone has written somewhere. Little or nothing is done to change texture of the soil. May be u wanted to write soil structure oh yes! i will entirely agree with u.
We should not see all contracts being awarded to DPP financiers Mulli inclusive.
u can’t explain as to where the systeme fail ndi misonkho yathu yimeneyi omatinamiza, expect to spend more money on importing maize next year bcoz poor victims of cashgate in the rular wil not manage 600% increase
Kkkkkkkkkk!!!!! Kkkkkkkkkk!!!!! Kkkkkkkkkk!!!!! Boma iloooooo
Subsidy mumailimbikila chifukwa choti ndi indirect cashgate.we know this.
but the budget already passed, I hope this is not another cashgate
About time… please scrap it all together as soon as possible!!!
EEEEEEE.KOMA ZIMENEZI ZOONA.TIONA 2019.
Mungochotsa izi zamakoponizi basi.Ngati anthu zimawavutabe thumba liri pa K500 kulibwanji lero ndi mtengo watsopanowu?I don’t blame the government for increasing the price,please don’t get me wrong
I welcome the idea, peo0ple must learn to grow and pay for themselves. The beneficiaries must work hard to be able to produce more and sell the remaining produce as a capital to buy more fertiliser.
Chemical fertilizers have long lasting side effects on the soil. The soil becomes perpetually dependent to such fertilizers. Leaching is high and acidity is also high. Chemical compounds are also washed by rain water into water bodies such as Lake Malawi, adversely affecting aquatic life, including Chambo, our delicacy. Authorities should vigorously pursue the use of manure which inter alia helps in improving soil texture and water retention.
I am not advocating a complete paradigm shift and a departure from chemical fertilizers. We still need chemical fertilizers, especially in commercial farming applications. We however need to look at conserving soil and the environment.
Rather than depending on wholesome importation of maize to mitigate against the shortages in the country, I would like to ask the authorities to embark on winter cropping on a larger scale, We should also look at the Green Belt initiative, regardless of our political leanings
Allowing other agro dealers in FISP exercise will be a gross mistake mr minister. Other tried but they goofed completely.
577 BILLION inanso
Welcome development, a Malawi tachuluka ulesi kukonda kukhala phwi and expect kumalandira za ulere, aliyense should work hard and contribute to the development of the country osati a few working hard and being taxed heavily to feed the masses
ndizomwe mudalonjedza ? mwaba manufesto achakwera universal subsday..
This is a commendable move by Government. Even us from MCP agree that the welfare approach to running government is not sustainable especially for the donor dependent economies like ours. The next step is to identify and subsidise a critical number of commercial farmers who can produce what the country needs for consumption and export then gradually phase out subsidy to smallholders most of whom dont have the capacity to produce anyway.
it makes sense slowly we should reach 50%
This is recipe for Cashgate. Why not scrapping off the subsidy? If there is little difference between the subsidized fertilizer and the one on the market this means government is into the business of selling fertilizers which i am convince government has failed to to business. What is government going to use the proceeds on? I am convinced this is another scheme for cashgate which unfortunately is exploiting the poor Malawians
Good move,next time ensure farmers contribute 50% and no more handouts
koma Allan ndi mbuli theretu. Dancing to tunes of azungu ngati Amayi. Kkkkkk. Clean up Mudi River mesa akuti ndiwe so Minister responsible for Water Affairs? Wea is the Water Authority Gwape iwe.
Okey,was that part of your fanifesto,anyway zinthu siziliso mwakale mudakangozisiya zimenezi.
This what i have been waiting for.
Most of subsidized fertilizer was abused by the beneficiaries themselves, vendors and politicians.
Next year increase the price again so that farmers are focused
BIG UP GOVERNMENT FOR REFORM ON SUBSIDY
Its a good move,however gvt shd up it to 45-55% contrbtn for farmer and gvt respectively.
It makes sense now wat is k500.00 things hav changed
It makes business sense. At K3500 per bag the fertilizer is still heavily subsidised by government.
thumbs up government this is long overdue, intact you should have increased it to atlas 5 or 6 pin
Thanx bwana- mwachita bwino- nzomwe timafuna- palibe vuto apa tigula baasi
It is ok to raise the contributions people make. However, the reason that you are responding people’s outcry is not true.
As far as I know, you are stubborn people so that whatever anyone says is termed as “jealous and envy”
Trust me, you must have run out of options because of inadequate funding.
I begin to wonder as to why this was not included in the 2015-2016 budget when presenting it in parliament? Is it another form of cashgate? Or what is exactly going on? Otherwise the move is good because we are losing too much through this program. But am still wondering where will the increased amount go since the budget was passed already with its fixed allocations? These thieves are going to milk our pockets thinly mark my words.
This was long overdue. Everybody needs to contribute otherwise this ship of ours would sink on our watch!! Koma tithetse corruption!!
That comes from making alliances with old udf. I am a usr supporter but remember the way admarc went. Selling reserves to kenya
It should have gone up to half of the current market price. Bussinessmen and women capitalize on this and gain quite a lot as they will raise these prices again. Government is simply subsidizing traders. It is also not easy to access this fertilizer. People still have last years coupons. FISP is now a campaign tool just here to prop up under performing governments. How do you keep on subsidizing old people who cannot use the fertilizer but only to sell
Hahahaha! Dr. Chiyembekeka. So all this time your government did NOT know that input (and malata, cement) subisidy programmes are not sustainable?
Malawi is not a welfare state. We have not created enough wealth to subsidise food (input subsidy), education, health, housing, for over 85% of the population. Who pays for all this? Donors of course. And now that the donors have tighten the grip, we’re filling the pinch. Welcome to reality, DPP!
Ok. Next time try universal subsidy put the bag at K10 500. Better still encourage the of organic fertilizers; i.e. Manure, compost etc. These farming friendly other than these chemicals that eventually destroy the soils.
At least better than before,its never too late.
Ok. Next time try universal subsidy put the bag at K10 500:
The main beneficiaries of this subsidized farm inputs program are the Burundians and Rwandans who buy the produce at the end of harvesting so cheaply and smuggle it out to make millions of dollars out there. Our government was supposed to get something out of this in terms of forex if it took time to control this trade between middlemen and farmers and also if it was serious about dealing with smuggling. Unfortunately our police and border officials are so corrupt they just let whole loads of trucks get through into Tanzania with the farm produce that the government so heavily subsidized to produce. Until someone works up, this program is a waste and some lost opportunity.
Mbali yoti muombe bwino ndi imeneyo
understanding the cost and increase in commodities globaly it is certain to increase.but it is still high.the goveRnment here is making another mess.if they pushed it to k3000 at least.and they also intend to reduce the number of beneficiaries.I BLAME THE ELECTROL COMMISSION FOR RECEIVING BRIBES TO ALLOW THIS GOVERNMENT COME IN.
Good news.
The tip of an iceberg indicating that things are not fine on the economic market. Soon it will be fuel
Clueless govt
Aaaaa so nanga opanda kupon ndalama zingat agalu inu
I think DPP needs some sort of medication for it to be cured ot of its cancer this was long due advocated what remains is to adopt a universal subsdy which MCP advocates for am of the opinion of MK7500 per 50kg bag shud be what weshud go for as unisubsdy
Good movie
Plz kick out the private sector in the supply and distribution of fertiliser. Use Admarc. It has outlets of the corners of Malawi. Use the private sector for transpport.
Paja boma ili kuchulutsa ma GATE. Mmbuyomu munali Cashgate, kenako NAC Gate panopa ndi iyo Fertilizer Gate Kaya tionera limodzi.
Thus jst another trap that u hav set to steal money systematically from poor people after plundering a huge sum already.
Stupid leadership! 600%?
The price of subsidized fertilizer is still K500 this is another sibusized gate uzchiyembekezo and ur DPP Government u want to still K6000 to each poor Malawians
Paid hospitals, expensive fertilizers, APM what do you want to do with our taxes? We
hear you partying every day … Shame on you …
The increase is too small. Farmers should atleast contribute 5000 kwacha per bag of fertilizer. Consider revising next year
Moto kuti buuuu! Ku Malawi. Bola a mayi Banda omwe aja.
Good move. Next year farmers must contribute 50% of the actual price, and donate one bag of 50kg maize to govt
Agreed.
This president must just swallow it up and confess that his government is broke and it needs a bailout of some sort just like how Greece did. It does not make sense to go flat out selling government companies and proceeds pay civil servants, or getting exorbitant loans from African bank to stabilise the kwacha cos its our kids who will be paying back those loans but you Peter will be dead by then or kicked out of presidency. The economy is in Tatars and when people complain mutharika says it’s envy. Useless old professor.
600% increment should go in everything starting from salaries then you are talking. I have been saying this for a very long time and effort to get sound response hasn’t been seen. when most of the food and wages pricing was budgeted the population for Malawi was 4 to 7 millions and now 14 to 17 millions. we need to plan out of the box as others have suggested that by 2050 we might have 30millions peoples. we need to run with time.i have better planning to end this food production. contract me if you want real answers to the right change to wards a better Malawi for all.this is not the time to trying people’s lives.
Increased by 600%? That’s good news for peter mutharika’s government cos this means 85% of Malawians will be starving come next year. This is probably the most clueless government that ever happened. We are just waiting for peter to turn this country into some Greece, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe or shit like that. Soon people will be going to ATMs to draw money only to realise that there’s no money but still this idiot of a president is promising people that he will win the next elections! Suck it up peter and step aside let those who can turn around the economy of this beautiful country lead us or you can lead those dunderheads( illiterate masses) in the south and leave the northern Malawi to ourselves. We can lead and develop ourselves here since we do not multiply like ants here.
Koma a Malawi tivinabe gule wopanda nyimboyu kosalekeza. Kwacha yayaluka pano fertilizer ndiyu wadulayu. Bola JB ndithu.
Coupons r not meant for de poor pple, thez r for de rich ones. With de revizd price per bag per pack i cant c any poor farmer i know purchasing one of thez subsidzd farm inputs. Nanu aboma tangomapatsani anthu achumawa poti ndiwo angakwanitse kulima mpaka kudyetsa dziko. mzanga wakumudzi pepaaa….
Ok,ziri tero?
This is a welcome development and the idea has been overdue.It will reduce laxity among Malawians.
Finally!!! This programme has bled Malawi for too long. Useless programme, prone to corruption, with no results. Invest that money in productive industries and/or infrastructure. Nthawi ya zinthu zaulere inapita ndi Eleson Muluzi
Mlimi wafakale pamenepa ngati amalephera kugula fertilizer alipa 500 wat more with the revised 3500? Nanu aboma nde muone mmene agulitsile anthu makuponi chaka chino cz i dont c the farmers i know purchasing even a single packet of maize or legume. kayaaaaaaaaaa.
Mlimi wafakale pamenepa ngati amalephera kugula fertilizer alipa 500 wat more with the revised 3500? Nanu aboma nde muone mmene agulitsile anthu makuponi chaka chino cz i dont c the farmers i know to purchase even a single packet of maize or legume.
Total rubbish
Well done. Can even raise it to K5000