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3 million to get starter pack
By
Joseph Langa - 05-08-2002 |
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PresidentBakili Muluzi says the starter pack programme which his government is reintroducing this growing season will target three million people throughout the country.
Speaking during Nankokota Primary School in Chief Ganya’s area in Ntcheu where he addressed a public rally on Saturday, Muluzi said prices of farm inputs in the country were unaffordable to most average Malawians hence the need to increase the number of beneficiaries for the starter pack programme.
He said the starter pack inputs will enable farmers to produce enough food for the whole country.
Muluzi said the Ministry of Agriculture is working out mechanisms in collaboration with donor partners to make sure it meets its target of distributing inputs to three million farmers.
“Said Muluzi: “Registration of the beneficiaries will start soon. The minister of agriculture [Aleke Banda] has my instructions to make sure that the target is met although some donors are talking about a target of two million people only.”
However, the President said although the starter pack programme has the capacity to avert hunger in the country, the goal can only be achieved if more people go into farming and that they prepare their gardens in time before the rains start.
He said it was sad to note that only four million of the 12 million people in the country are currently in farming, growing food for the whole country.
On this note Muluzi disclosed that government has introduced a fertilizer and maize seed loan scheme for workers in government and the private sector to enable them to buy farm inputs and take part in farming activities to increase maize production in the country.
A press statement from the Ministry of Agriculture says the maize and fertilizer loan scheme will only be extended to full-time employees in public and private sectors saying those on temporary employment or serving interdiction will not be eligible.
According to the statement published in the local press, repayment for the loans will be done in six months through “direct bank debt standing order” for parastatals and private companies and monthly deductions for public workers.
The quantity of the fertilizer and seed per person will depend on the employees’s net monthly salary.
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