Farmers Union of Malawi (FAM) says disruptions to global fertiliser supply chain and rising prices could negatively impact crop production and livelihood in the country.

In a written response to a questionnaire on Wednesday, FUM executive director Jacob Nyirongo said the reduced crop output could have serious implications on household income pushing many farmers into poverty.

AIP beneficiaries buy inputs in the previous season

He said: “Fertilisers are likely to be in short supply on the world market due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as the countries involved in the conflict are major producers of chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium used in agricultural production.

“Rising fuel and food prices will put upward pressure on fertiliser prices due to higher costs of production and increased demand for fertilisers. Due to the above, it is imperative that government should avoid costly delays in the procurement and delivery of fertiliser for the 2022/23 season.”

In Malawi, fertiliser consumption is centered mostly on two major corps, tobacco, Malawi’s main forex earner and maize, the country’s staple grain.

Presently, fertiliser demand stands at approximately 350 000 metric tonnes (MT), which consists of about 100 000 MT commercial sales and about 250 000 MT for the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP).

Last year alone, AIP targeted 3.6 million beneficiaries.

However, Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe said last week that the number of this year’s AIP beneficiaries will be known after finalising contracts with fertiliser suppliers.

He, was, however, quick to mention that government will also take into consideration the rising fertiliser prices and devaluation when determining the number of beneficiaries.

He said: “All processes are at an advanced stage in terms of evaluation and very soon, we should be able to come up with some contracts and it will be then that we will know the number of beneficiaries.”

In the 2022/23 National Budget however, AIP has claimed K109.5 billion, representing about 85 percent of the agriculture sector budget. The allocation is K33 billion less than the previous year’s K142 billion allocation.

Meanwhile, local fertiliser firms are failing to service outstanding bills in excess of $120 million (K124 billion) with suppliers abroad making them unable to order the commodity due to the chronic foreign exchange shortage.

The development has since restricted normal flow of fertiliser into the country for about 20 major fertiliser firms.

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