Johannesburg, South Africa (ADV) – The Malawian Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development has attributed a projected 25 percent increase in maize crop production to the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP), The Nation has reported.
Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha, made this announcement of the first round of crop estimates at a press conference in Lilongwe, Capital of Malawi recently.
The estimates indicated that maize production has gone up by 25 percent from 2.6 million metric tons (MT) to 3.3 million MT in 2018/19. These results were achieved despite the FISP initiative not yielding similar results in recent years.
“While this is just an estimate and we cannot predict with certainty how much FISP has contributed, but perhaps one could ask what would have happened without FISP,” said the Minister.
“FISP has always contributed to food security, it is one of the best instruments to improve the lives of Malawians.”
Mwanamvekha added that the increases were made possible due to FISP, in particular the increase in the number of beneficiaries from 900 000 in 2017/18 to one million in the 2018/19 farming season.
“The 100 000 increase of beneficiaries and the subsequent increase in production have vindicated government that FISP is a programme that is beneficial for food security of Malawians,” he noted.
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