President Joyce Banda on Tuesday expressed confidence that her ruling People’s Party (PP) will win next month’s elections. She was speaking at a rally in central region’s Mchinji District after switching on rural electricity at Nkhwazi Health centre. Thousands gathered at the rally at Nkhwazi Admarc football ground in the district bordering Zambia. She told […]
Four people are under police custody in Malawi’s eastern district of Balaka for being found in possession of 73 bags of subsidized fertilizer suspected to have been stolen. The suspects John Kayoyo 33, Fanuel Jamu 29, Emmanuel Lawrence 26 and Saujiya Kalambo 34 were arrested at Mwima area after they were found loading 73 bags […]
As an unofficial campaign for the 2014 tripartite elections gets hotter by day with both reasonable and unreasonable promises from leaders of various political parties and the opposition People’s Progressive Movement (PPM) is promising Malawians the introduction of new and cheapest form of fertilizers once voted into power. PPM president, Mark Katsonga Phiri says the […]
In a bid to contribute to food security and success of Farm Inputs Subsidy Program (Fisp), businessman, Benedicto Chambo has donated K1.3 million to allow farmers in Mangochi North constituency access Fisp seeds for free. Under Fisp, subsistence farmers are allowed to but farm inputs such as fertilizer and seeds at government’s subsidized price. About […]
Gogo Munthali dissolves into tears every morning. She worries about what to feed her five grandchildren orphaned by HIV/Aids. Munthali was among the first beneficiaries under the farm input subsidy programme (FISP) in Rumphi– over 400 km to the north of Lilongwe, when it was introduced some eight years ago. For the first three years, […]
An 84-year-old granny in Phalombe was allegedly beaten last week for revealing to Agriculture officials in the district that names that had been registered ahead of the fertiliser subsidy coupons distribution were not necessarily those from her village. Ethel Kungwimba from Gwembere Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Nkhumba’s area is alleged to have been beaten by […]
About 23 companies have won tenders to supply fertilisers in the 2013 and 2014 fertiliser subsidy programme and conspicuously missing from the list is business conglomerates, the Mulli Brothers Holdings Limited , which was believed to had close links with the late president Bingu wa Mutharika . Ministry of Agriculture Internal Procurement Committee chaired by Principal Secretary Jeffrey Luhanga on […]
United Democratic Front (UDF) presidential candidate Atupele Austin Muluzi has said his government will have a clear social protection policy and will not abandon existing programmes because their predecessor is no longer in power. The initiative was launched by President Joyce Banda to change lives of the rural communities. She said the Mudzi Transformation Trust will […]
A strong advice has gone out to Malawi government authorities to deploy more people to monitor the implementation of subsidy program to curb corruption, favoritism and bias that have soiled the implementation of the program since its inception. Executive Director of the local NGO Future Planning for the Child, Douglas Ng’oma gave the advice […]
United Nations Special Raportuer on the Right to Food Olivier De Schutter who was in Malawi for an assessment of the food situation in the country has rubbished Kayerekera uranium mine deal between Malawi and Australian Paladin Mining Company saying the Southern African country has had a raw deal that is robbing the poor. The […]
One of the country’s major local fertilizer suppliers, Nyiombo Investments, has lowered its price for the commodity following the continued appreciation of the Malawi Kwacha. The company has slashed the price by 15 percent, a development it says reflects the situation on the ground. In the past weeks, the local currency has been gaining momentum […]
A report by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ABC), leading the fight against graft practices in Malawi, has revealed that Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (Admarc) officials are among authorities who marred the smooth implementation of the 2012/2013 Farm Input Subsidy Programme (Fisp). The report on the programme says there was problematic supply of farm inputs with […]
President of the opposition Malawi Forum for Democracy (Mafunde) has lashed out at the ruling People’s Party (PP) for sticking to farm input subsidy program which he says cannot take Malawi towards economic prosperity. Speaking on Capital FM radio during the newly introduced weekly program known as ‘The Candidate’ aired on Wednesday evening, Nnesa who is […]
Police in Mzuzu have arrested a man believed to the master minder of a robbery of 29 bags of the government subsidized fertilizer worthy MK435,000 at Luvwere Admarc in Mzimba district in November 2012. Mzuzu Police Station spokesperson Sergeant Maurice Chapola said Police apprehended the suspect Kapezela Grispin Gondwe 36, Traditional Authority Mtwalo in Mzimba District […]
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Professor Peter Mwanza confirmed mistakes that were done when implementing the 2012/2013 Farm Subsidy Programme. The fertiliser subsidy programme, which was launched in 2005 to help boost Malawi’s food self-reliance capacity, offers fertiliser to poor farmers at a considerably lower rate than market value. While responding to the state […]
Police in Mchinji on Saturday intercepted 100 bags of UREA and 23:21:0 fertilizer meant to be smuggled to the neighbouring Zambia. According to Mchinji police station public relations officer, Moses Kajawa Nyirenda said the fertilizer was found at a certain house at point zero within the border area of Malawi and Zambia. “We received a […]
Former ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) says when Parliament resumes sitting this month in the capital Lilonwe, it will take to task government to explain why it overspent in the implementation of the 2012/13 farm input subsidized . According to Speaker of the National Assembly, the 43rd parliamentary session will begin on February 8 and […]