Poor planning haunts subsidy programme, says Jumbe

An agriculturalist says damage control on the irregularities in the Fertiliser Input Subsidy Programme will not yield much result.

The observation from the president of Farmers Union of Malawi Felix Jumbe comes amid reports that most bags of subsidised fertilizer already distributed in depots are either being mixed with sand or diverted.

Jumbe told the media that there is laxity in the system of managing the programme this year.

“From the time we started this programmes to date, we have been building and putting in systems that will ensure that these thing aren’t happening. So it means that these systems have slacked and collapsed,” said Jumbe.

According to Jumbe, the recent developments stem from the cancellation of fertilizer contracts with some companies by the government, whom he claims had enough experience on procuring fertilizer from the right suppliers.

The Malawi government is implementing the programme to ensure food security in the country.