By Tabbu Kitta Kauye

Lilongwe, February 21, Mana: Ombudsman Grace Malera has asked government to consider reprogramming the Affordable Input Program (AIP) saying it has for years failed to make the country food secure.

Malera made the remarks in Dowa when she presented the final report on systemic investigations on AIP implementation from 2022 to 2024 growing seasons.

The Ombudsman stated that there have been some improvements in AIP implementation among them good political will and programming at technical level which, she said, has increased yields at household level.

“Although there have been some improvements, there are still some maladministration that weaken the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the programme. For instance, corruption and unethical conduct by stakeholders involved in the programme,” she said.

Malera stated that AIP comes at a huge cost and the cost benefit analysis does not reflect the billions spent in the implementation of the program hence the call for the government to reprogram and rethink the programme.

The Office of the Ombudsman has recommended that, among others, in the long term government must continue putting on its agenda an exit strategy for AIP and in the processing of graduation from AIP there must be mechanisms of mitigating vulnerability in certain categories.

“In the short term, there should be fundamental remodeling of the subsidy programs, to optimize on efficiencies, effectives and responsiveness to fit into the Malawi 2063 goals,” said Malera.

National AIP Coordinator in the Ministry of Agriculture, Justin Kagona, said government has already started reprogramming and improving the program to ensure that beneficiaries are assisted.

Kagona said: “We gave have been reducing the number of beneficiaries from 3.8 million in 2020-2021 to 1.5 million in 2022-2023. This shows that government is modifying and improving AIP.

“While we are reducing the number of AIP beneficiaries, we are increasing on commercial production like mega farms and agriculture commercialization and provision of loans to commercial farmers under the Nation Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) to achieve food security.”