Woman drops dead as she struggled to buy subsidized cheap farm input

A woman has dropped dead on a queue as she struggled to buy the government subsidised farm input in Dedza.

This was amid chaos aa the Affordable Input Program (AIP) is facing continued glitches.

The deceased has been identified as Shyreen  Kamtameni who dropped dead as she tried to buy fertilizer at Chimbiya depot in Dedza this morning.

In-Charge of Chimbiya Medical Clinic, John Nkhoma, says the woman was brought to the clinic already dead.

Nkhoma says cause of death will only be known after postmortem.

However, an eye-witness, chairperson of Kuntekera Village Development Committee, Alex Moffat, says, before collapsing, the woman had complained of hunger.

Apparently she spent ages on the line to buy the fertilizer.

Meanwhile, there are growing fears that the number of beneficiaries for Affordable Input Program AIP will be reduced from next year.

This follows revelations by the Ministry of Agriculture that it will only consider those that have remained faithful and have successfully purchased fertilizer without selling their Identity cards.

It also comes as some farmers are said to have sold their IDs to vendors in the country.

Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe expressed dismay with farmers that have sold out their IDs instead of buying fertilizer for their benefit.

Lowe further indicated that in some areas the program has failed to meet its intended purpose as most farmers sold identify cards.

According to Lowe, by end of this week the program will have reached 50 percent on its target.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :

Sharing is caring!