Govt increases subsidy beneficiaries

The program, in which poor farmers by farm inputs like fertilizer at a heavily subsidized price, is the brain child of the late President Bingu wa Mutharika and has been pivotal in turning Malawi from a food beggar to a food secure country.

Minister of Agriculture and Food security Professor Peter Mwanza disclosed this on Wednesday during a national review workshop on the 2011/2012 farm input subsidy program.

He cited fuel shortage, corruption and overpricing of farm inputs by some market centers as some of the major challenges the program encountered this season.

1.4 million People benefited from the 2011/2012 farm input subsidy program this year.