By Cathy Maulidi:
Malawi Civil Society Led Black Economic Empowerment Movement (Mablem) has called on the government to prioritise the availability of fertiliser in the country if Malawi is to address the hunger crisis.
Speaking at a press conference in Lilongwe yesterday, Mablem Chairperson Robert Mkwezalamba said the problem of food insecurity could be mitigated through timely availability and distribution of farm inputs, including fertiliser, to the farmers.
“The country might have favourable rains but if the inputs are not available, the country can experience food shortage. That is the more reason why the government’s continued investment in the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) remains vital.
“On the other hand, Malawi’s fertiliser situation has been impacted by several challenges, including supply chain disruptions, high prices and reliance on imported fertilisers,” Mkwezalamba said.
And commenting on the issue of East Bridge Estate SRL deal, which Malawi entered into in order to avert forex challenges, Mkwezalamba said the government had to come out clear on issues pertaining to the deal.
“Malawi signed a contract agreement with East Bridge to supply 600,000 metric tonnes (mt)—300,000mt for NPK and 300,000mt for Urea—of fertiliser and, in return, be paid through commodities of equivalent amount. Such commodities include volumes of groundnuts, soya beans, pigeon peas and other crops.
“We have it on record that the deal between government and East Bridge stalled
following the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, [which recommended] that the contract be handed over to Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM), which is a government organisation that deals with fertiliser, and this was done and a Novation agreement was signed,” Mkwezalamba said.
According to Mkwezalamba, it was surprising that the government had not utilised the company’s services considering that the country’s fertiliser stocks are “alarmingly” low.
“The movement undertook, and has concluded, an in-depth investigation into the fertiliser supply contract between the Government of Malawi and East Bridge Estate SRL. The investigation sought to establish genuineness of the contract, allegations of corruption and procedural irregularities surrounding this vital agreement including reasons why it isn’t being honoured while further assessing any liabilities should government default.
“Our findings have verified that the agreements and subsequent addenda were executed within fairly negotiated legal frameworks, with documented processes and approvals at every stage. From the onset, negotiations on the contract and various addenda were executed to govern the commodity exchange between the company and government, which later was novated to SFFRFM,” he said.
The CSOs have, therefore, urged government to ensure that it meets obligations as per the contract and see to it that fertiliser is available to people.
“Make fertiliser available to the farmers in Malawi by all means necessary to avoid creating food shortages and food crisis in the country. Government must always respect contracts to avoid lawsuits,” Mkwezalamba said.
Last month, Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary responsible for technical services Medrina Mloza Banda told members of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture that government was ready to honour the contract if the committee were to give it the go ahead.
Chairperson for the committee Sameer Suleman said the committee would help the ministry conduct due diligence and make recommendations.
Suleman said the company’s “fertiliser is being offered at an affordable price” as compared to other suppliers and indicated that it would be a good idea to buy commodities from East Bridge if the country were to walk away from its current fertiliser crisis.
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