By Mercy Matonga:
The National Economic Empowerment Fund (Neef) has expressed hope that it will reach its target beneficiaries for agriculture input loans.
Neef’s Head of Operations, Kisa Kalolokesya, said that the State institution is optimistic that farmers will receive their inputs on time during this growing season.
Kalolokesya made these remarks in Traditional Authority of Masumbankhunda in Lilongwe, where Neef was distributing fertiliser to farmer clubs that had obtained fertiliser from the institution on loan.
“We began distributing fertiliser to farmers who have taken it on loan five weeks ago in different parts of the country and we are hoping that by the end of January, we will have distributed the inputs to all areas,” Kalolokesya said.
He acknowledged the logistical challenges but assured that the institution is working hard to overcome them.
Kalolokesya added that, at present, they are distributing the available fertiliser to farmers without prioritising specific types.
“Today, we had urea. We know that NPK is applied first but since we had urea available, we could not wait. We are hoping that by next week, more stock will arrive,” Kalolokesya said.
Speaking to The Daily Times, Member of Parliament for the area, Peter Dimba, called on stakeholders to collaborate in providing logistics for the fertiliser distribution.
“We are facing logistical challenges and I urge other Members of Parliament to participate in supporting the provision of logistics for these inputs,” Dimba said.
He also reminded farmers to repay their loans on time so that others can also benefit.
Sixty-two farmers from ten groups in the area received 300 bags of fertiliser, while 52 farmers from Traditional Authority of M’bwatalika received 184 bags.
The inputs are part of the K150 billion that the government, through Neef, has set aside for the provision of loans in the form of agriculture inputs, among other initiatives.
The loan is a component of various government initiatives, which it says are aimed at expanding support to farmers and enhancing food security.
This farming season, 1.1 million productive farming households were listed to access subsidised inputs under the Affordable Inputs Programme.
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