Institute questions AIP sustainability (The Nation)

The Nation (Malawi) published an article on how IFPRI has cast doubt on the possibility of maintaining the planned level of subsidy and number of beneficiaries in this year’s Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP). IFPRI’s sentiments follow revelations by a senior official at the Ministry of Agriculture who told The Nation last week that maintaining the AIP at current beneficiary levels would require taxpayers to cough an extra K70 billion. In its August 2021 paper titled Why are fertilizer prices in Malawi high? And what can be done?, IFPRI stated that reducing the price of fertilizer is beyond government in the short-term.