Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Roza Mbilizi has exposed malpractices rocking Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme (Fisp), including some chiefs and civil servants adding themselves as beneficiaries. Speaking during a press conference in Lilongwe yesterday to give an update on the status of Fisp, she said about 3 800 civil servants included themselves as beneficiaries and warned them to stay clear of the programme or face the law. Said Mbilizi: “If you [civil servants] have not yet redeemed the fertiliser, make sure you don’t redeem.
If there are others that have redeemed, they will face the law. “We have the list and we know where you are based. The law will take its course and it will not spare those that listed the civil servants as beneficiaries.” She said the ministry has also received reports of people buying national identity cards (IDs) from beneficiaries to access the cheap fertiliser and incidents where some chiefs and sales clerks are demanding money for registration of beneficiaries and purchase of inputs.
Mbilizi said no Fisp beneficiary is required to pay any additional money on top of the K10 000 contribution for a 50 kilogramme (kg) bag of fertiliser as set by government. On the progress in distribution of the inputs, she said they have now reached 17 percent distribution to retail points nationwide while the redemption rate of the inputs stood at 12 percent as of yesterday. Fisp is targeting 1.1 million beneficiaries and so far, 131 184 have accessed the inputs.
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The minister said government is working towards securing all 110 000 metric tonnes (MT) of fertiliser needed for the programme by mid-December. Mbilizi said 37 818MT of fertiliser stocks are in warehouses locally while 10 949MT is in transit from Zambia and government is also procuring 62 000MT from private traders. In a related development, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Ben Phiri, who accompanied Mbilizi during the briefing, has warned chiefs who will be found abusing Fisp that they risk being relieved of their duties.
Commenting on the revelations, National Anti-Corruption Alliance chairperson Michael Kaiyatsa demanded a thorough investigation into the abuse and ensure that the suspects are punished. Fisp rolled out on November 12 2025 and beneficiaries are accessing two 50 kg bags of fertilizer and one pack of five kg seed. There are also farmers under a livestock component who are receiving five goats, notably four female and one male on a pass-on arrangement.
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