Chitipa communities say monitoring to improve Fisp

Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme (Fisp) beneficiaries in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwenewenya in Chitipa District have welcomed the establishment of monitoring mechanisms to ensure the programme benefits vulnerable people. In an interview yesterday, Elizabeth Kayira from Kamiramphande in T/A Mwenewenya said duty-bearers should follow up the transportation and dispatch of fertilisers to selling points to ensure that farmers redeem it in time. “We hope things will improve next farming season following the training of duty-bearers on social accountability tools to effectively respond to citizens’ concerns,” she said.

Kayira said farmers in Wenya struggle to access services, including relief food and subsidised fertilisers on time due to poor road network. “We can only thank the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace [CCJP] for training the duty-bearers to improve service delivery,” he said. CCJP programmes assistant officer Stella Zimba-Wella called on duty-bearers to enhance accountability, transparency and responsiveness in service delivery.

“We want duty-bearers to monitor and follow up on service delivery, provide timely information and ensure transparency,” she said. In a separate interview, Chitipa district principal agriculture officer Steve Msopole said the training will build trust between communities and authorities. “We are fully committed to supporting the initiative because it is in line with our vision of achieving food and nutrition security in the district,” he said. With support from Welthungerhilfe, CCJP is implementing a food governance project in T/A Mwenewenya in Chitipa.