Some smallholder farmers in Balaka district have joined calls to revise the implementation of the Affordable Inputs Programme-AIP, arguing the current set up is punitive and a recipe for hunger among benefiting households.
A local farmer, Magret Jonas claims farm inputs are mostly easily accessible to vendors and chiefs than ordinarily farmers thereby making many vulnerable to food shortages.
Ministry of Agriculture spokesperson Gracian Lungu while declining to comment on the issue raised, said the ministry has developed a reform paper on the AIP that has not yet been discussed by the cabinet.
