BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The country’s Consumers Association of Malawi (CAMA) on Monday, September 28, 2020 asked President Lazarus Chakwera’s Tonse government to remove Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP) from the 2020/2021 national budget arguing that the initiative has not benefited Malawians.
The consumer rights body observed that over the years Malawians have been burying into the ground billion of kwacha’s in the form of subsidized fertilizers that have not provided any meaningful interventions to Food Security
CAMA adds that the program has been proved to failure to make Malawi Food Secure.
In a press statement made available to The Maravi Post signed by CAMA’s Executive Director John Kapito said the program is heavily politicized.
Kapito thinks that the program has reduced Malawians capacity to think and develop sustainable food security interventions that would also have an impact in the reduction of food pricing
“While Government has differed a number of promises it made during its campaigns we wish also to request Government to differ the implementation of Farm Input Subsidy Program from the budget. The current Farm Input Subsidy Program is another wastage of resources that Malawi can’t afford to be burying under the ground.
The only beneficiaries of the Farm Input Subsidy Programs over the years are the Manufacturers of Fertilizer and Seed, the Importers and transporters of the Farm Input Subsidies while the intended beneficiaries have remained food insecure,” reads part of the CAMA statement.
“The 2021 Farm Input Subsidy Program is so huge at almost 160 billion Malawi kwacha which if properly used and targeted to key economic growth sectors such as Tourism, Mining or Contract Farming can benefit the very same people that the Farm Input Subsidy Program has failed to produce over the last 15 years.
“The Farm Input Subsidy Program though now operating under a new different name is a program that is marred with a lot of corruption.We had expected the new Administration to have noted that and ensure that they don’t repeat the wastages of Public funds by continuing with such a corrupt expenditure where both the choice of suppliers and quality of the farm inputs are suspected to corruption and poor quality,” he said.
Urges Kapito, “We are urging the current Administration not to copy and paste the very same mistakes and corrupt practices that were done by the previous Administrations.We strongly believe that the new Administration can do things correctly and differently”.
The country’s leadership is yet to respond on CAMA’s demands as currently Parliamentarians are in the August House for budget seating.
There has been also call for Tonse government to have universal subsidy than targeted farmers that in the current national budget about 4.5 million farmers are expected to benefit from the program.
