Livingstonia Church and Society Programme executive director Moses Mkandawire has asked government to cancel the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP), saying it is hurting the economy.
Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday at Livingstonia Synod Secretariat in Mzuzu, he said with the AIP, Malawi just imports for consumption.
Mkandawire said: “The plane is crashing and there is need to remind the pilot to take it back into the sky by redirecting some of the resources that go into AIP to other productive sectors that will promote exports and not imports.
“For example, let us inject K30 billion from the AIP into commercial farms, which will feed the nation.”
His sentiments come against a backdrop of rising budget deficits on the back of dwindling fiscal space triggered by low domestic revenue mobilisation, the drying up of budgetary support as well as persistent shortages of foreign exchange.
In 2020, government introduced AIP replacing the Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme, which was targeting about 900 000 farming households at a cost of roughly K30 billion.
The new AIP targeted about 4.2 million farming households in 2020 with a budget of K160 billion.
In the 2022/23 agriculture sector budget, AIP has K109.5 billion while in the 2021/22 National Budget, it was allocated K142 billion.
Mkandawire also asked the country’s leadership to reflect on its obsession with foreign trips.
“There are some trips that the leadership can always delegate. This is why we have ambassadors and High Commissioners in some countries who can represent the state,” he said.
On the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation expected to visit the country [today], Mkandawire said Malawians should speak with one voice for IMF to bring back the Extended Credit Facility for the economy to bounce back.
In a telephone interview on Tuesday, governance expert Victor Chipofya said AIP has proven to be a failed programme used as a campaign tool for politicians.
“It looked good when it was introduced by former president Bingu wa Mutharika, but it eventually became too politicised to the point that it no longer satisfies its originally intended purpose,” he said.
Chipofya said AIP is not a sustainable way of caring for Malawians.
“We borrow money just for consumption instead of investing to make more money. What will happen when time comes to pay back or lenders stop borrowing us. AIP has just made us a nation of beggars,” he said.
But government spokesperson Gospel Kazako said there are a number of things government needs to consider before reviewing the policy.
He said: “Remember, food is a human right and on all matters concerning food, there should not be a single Malawian whose food human rights are trampled upon.
“That does not mean suggestions to review AIP will be ignored.”
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