Grace Madalitso, a farmer in Nsanje, has already accessed quality inputs and is hoping for higher yields.
Madalitso Kasanga, 54, of Traditional Authority Nchilamwera in Thyolo, is a relieved farmer after successfully planting maize and groundnuts on her field. She nearly stopped farming following a sharp rise in the price of fertiliser and seeds on the market last October.
“The situation was tough for smallholder farmers like me. The development further disturbed my preparation for the farming season because I had no idea of where fertiliser and seeds would come from,” she recalled.
Kasanga is among the many smallholder farmers in Malawi who stepped into the 2025/26 farming season with a sense of hopelessness and uncertainty.
With the onset of the rainy season, their nervousness about accessing fertiliser, the crucial input for their farming, grew thicker.
In Nsanje, farmer Grace Madalitso said the situation was made worse by the scarcity of fertiliser on the market.
“In our district, fertiliser was not available on the market, but we heard that in the districts where fertiliser was available, the prices were high,” she said.
Compounding the uncertainty was the unclear future of the government’s subsidised farm input programme.
This followed the September 16 general election, which left many farmers unsure about the direction the incoming government would take on agricultural support.
According to the Fertilizer Association of Malawi, by September last year, fertiliser suppliers had yet to stock their warehouses and had low volumes.
At the heart of these uncertainties were revelations that the country had only 284,659 metric tons, far below the minimum annual requirement of 450,000 metric tons.
The association’s executive administrative officer, Hannah Makhambera told MBC that the persistent foreign currency scarcity hindered its members from importing the essential input into the country.
“We had the capacity to deliver fertiliser into the country from anywhere in the country however, this could not be achieved due to forex limitations,” Said Makhambera.
On 4th October, the day President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika was sworn in, he had urgent issues on his desk to address. Top amongst them was the rising fertilizer prices and their unavailability on the local market due to foreign currency limitations.
Despite being in government for less than a month, President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika allayed fertiliser scarcity fears when he announced the reintroduction of the Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP).
“Mr Speaker sir, my administration will re-introduce FISP in the 2025/2026 farming season. This program will benefit 1.1 million farmers across the country each accessing two bags of 50Kg of fertiliser plus a 5kg seed pack of their choice. The beneficiaries will be paying only K10, 000 per bag of fertiliser,” said President Mutharika.
President Mutharika’s remarks bore fruit following the FISP launch in Mchinji, which marked the rollout of the programme across the country.
An Agriculture expert, Leanard Chimwaza, told MBC that the rising cost of fertiliser and unavailability on the market both posed significant implications on food security
“Our soil is weak, and it cannot produce enough if farmers fail to apply fertiliser. This was a ticking bomb and severe hunger was imminent,” explained Chimwaza
According to the Minister of Agriculture, Roza Mbilizi, 46 percent of the targeted farmers have redeemed their input under FISP.
”When we took over from the previous administration, we found out that they had planned for 500,000 farmers across the country, which was very low. The President directed that we increase the number to 1.1 million. Right now, fertiliser is being delivered to all districts across the country,” said Bilizi.
In Karonga District, the Director of Agriculture says the impact of the fertiliser subsidy distribution has been significant.
Meanwhile, in Mangochi, improved availability has enabled more farmers to access quality inputs, a development expected to translate into higher yields and increased productivity.
Farmers in Mwanza, Phalombe and Zomba districts have similarly described the subsidised fertiliser and other agricultural inputs as a lifeline that will greatly improve their harvests.
The President’s long-term plan is to scale down fertiliser imports and encourage local production to shield farmers from volatile global prices.
As President Mutharika marks 100 days in office, the testimonies from the local farmers suggest that his administration’s approach to the availability of fertiliser is off to a good start and that the ship is sailing in the right direction. This was a promise made, and it is being delivered bit by bit.
