Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) has said it has engaged a consultant for a feasibility study for construction of fertiliser plant.
In March this year, the organisation told the Agriculture Cluster of Parliament that the government should provide K195 million for the entity to conduct the study.
In an interview, SFFRFM Chief Executive Officer Richard Chikukhudzeni said all the procurement processes were finalised and a consultant for feasibility study has been identified.
He said the organisation will present the inception report to the Fertiliser Manufacturing Plant Taskforce within this month.
“The taskforce comprises officials from SFFRFM, Ministries of Agriculture, Finance, Trade, Mining as well as Farmers Union of Malawi.
The timeline for the completion of the feasibility study will be confirmed once the inception report is presented and reviewed,” Chikunkhudzeni said.
Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture Chairperson Sameer Suleman said the committee will only trust what SFFRFM is saying once they see the report.
He said the country is in dire need of the plant so that fertiliser prices should go down.
“With the issues of dubious fertiliser deals that keep on happening, we are hoping that this time around something positive will happen,” Suleman said.
Malawi still depends on fertilisers manufactured in other countries for its agriculture activities.
In recent times, the importation of the commodity has encountered numerous challenges like shortages of forex.
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