Farmers have questioned delays in the distribution of fertiliser under the 2026-27 Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme (Fisp), despite assurances from the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) that 62,000 metric tonnes (MT) of the commodity are in stock.
Farmers Union of Malawi president Manes Nkhata said in an interview with The Daily Times Wednesday that three weeks after the programme’s launch, farmers were yet to receive updates on when fertiliser would be available at designated selling points.
Nkhata said the uncertainty was affecting farmers’ planning as beneficiaries did not know when, or whether, they would access the subsidised inputs.
“This year is a bit awkward because we are not able to follow up on the programme as we did in the past years. We have been left out and we do not know what is happening,” Nkhata said.
However, SFFRFM Chief Executive Officer Godfrey Itaye said the institution has 62,000 MT of fertiliser in stock, ready for distribution under this year’s programme.
Itaye said distribution would take place in phases, starting with seven districts that normally receive rainfall earlier than other parts of the country.
Supplies would then gradually reach other districts through farmers’ clubs as the programme progresses.
Itaye could not, however, provide a clear timetable for the distribution.
And Nkhata questioned why fertiliser was yet to reach selling points if the institution already had sufficient stocks.
The national fertiliser requirement for this year’s Fisp is approximately 61,093 MT.
Some farmers we talked too have also expressed concern that fertiliser has yet to reach depots despite assurances that stocks are available.
“We are hearing that fertiliser is available, but when we go to the depots, the products are not there. This worries us because we have seen this before, where the programme ends without some farmers managing to buy the inputs,” Joseph Zulu, from Mchinji, said yesterday.
He said fertiliser needs to be available early enough for farmers to prepare for the growing season before the rains become established.
Zulu also called on the government to consider reducing fertiliser prices to make the commodity more accessible to farmers who do not benefit from the subsidy.
Government has allocated K111 billion to Fisp in the 2026- 27 National Budget, down from K241 billion in the revised 2025-26 budget.
Under this year’s programme, beneficiaries are expected to pay K20,000 for a 50-kilogramme (kg) bag of NPK fertiliser and the same amount for a 50kg bag of urea. A 5kg bag of certified maize seed costs K10,000.
Minister of Agriculture Roza Mbilizi launched the programme at Kalira Primary School grounds in Ntchisi on September 24, 2026.
The ministry’s spokesperson Salome Gangire said all coupons scheduled for distribution under this year’s Fisp have been distributed across the country’s districts.
However, farmers insist that coupon distribution does not necessarily mean fertiliser and seed are available at selling points.
In Ntcheu, farmer Rose Kaliza said she feared that, despite being earmarked to benefit from this year’s programme, she might end up planting without applying fertiliser at the right time.
“Planting can begin any time, even this month. Of course, weather experts are telling us to wait. But still it becomes satisfying to do farming when you are aware that you will get the inputs in good time,” Kaliza said.
Agriculture policy expert Tamani Nkhono-Mvula has previously argued that fertiliser distribution should begin early and be completed by mid- December.
Delays in accessing subsidised farm inputs are not new. During the 2025-26 season, only 9.6 percent of targeted beneficiaries had redeemed their inputs by December 1, 2025.
The 2024-25 season recorded faster progress in some districts. In Kasungu, input sales began in October 2024 and, by November 20, about 31 percent of beneficiaries had redeemed their inputs, according to published reports.
In the 2023-24 season, the government said distribution had started in hard-to-reach areas by the time the programme was launched on October 20, 2023.
The 2026-27 Fisp is targeting 1,221,862 smallholder farming households through subsidised inorganic fertiliser, certified maize seed and the promotion of Mbeya organic fertiliser.