Invest AIP ‘savings’ in commercial farming— experts
Experts have urged government to invest in commercial agriculture the K33 billion saved following the reduction in allocation to the Affordable Input Programme (AIP) in the proposed K2.84 trillion 2022/23 National Budget.
A 2022/23 National Budget analysis by a consortium of the Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama), Oxfam in Malawi and the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar) notes that despite the reduction in AIP allocation, the budget statement remains silent on how the K33 billion savings from AIP will be used.
The K109.5 billion AIP allocation in the 2022/23 Budget represents a 22.8 percent decline from last financial year’s K142 billion.
University of Malawi economics professor Ronald Mangani did the analysis on behalf of the consortium.
He said: “However, the decline does not free up funds for other agricultural activities to spur growth, perhaps authorities have an explanation because the national budget statement is silent on this.”
In an interview on behalf of the consortium, Oxfam in Malawi country director Lingalireni Mihowa recommended that government consider investing the funds into massive commercial agriculture to spur economic development.
Centre for Research and Consultancy executive director Milward Tobias observed thad government needed to consider investing the funds in mega and anchor farm projects which are in the Malawi 2063 development blueprint.
Meanwhile, agricultural economist at Luanar, Horace Phiri, has since warned aganist government’s involvement in mega agricultural investments saying it may stifle private sector growth in the agricultural sector.
Commenting on the issue, economist Christopher Mbukwa observed that litlle has been done with regards to the calls to invest more in commercialisation, stating that the first 10-year Malawi Implementation Plan (MIP-1), which is the blueprint for resource allocation, has several proposed initiatives towards agricultural commercialisation that have not been allocated resources.
Mbukwa said considering that current fiscal space is limited, programmes that are not performing to expectation ought to be reduced in favour of programmes that can boost the commercialisation drive.
