Tobacco Association of Malawi (TAMA), who wants subsidized fertilizer to be distributed through farmers clubs, is bitter over government's stance to have the cheaper input be offered through coupons.

Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Uladi Mussa was quoted by Sunday's Nation Online of Malawi as saying that the absence of national identities in Malawi makes it difficult to track beneficiaries since it is possible for one person to be a member of more than one club by using different names.

The minister also said if it uses the farmer clubs, the government will be flouting the country's democratic principles since people will be forced to join or form associations in order to have access to the subsidized fertilizer.

With the absence of the IDs, it is possible for foreigners to come, especially to areas along the borders, and register for the program or form ghost and briefcase clubs in order to access the input, he said.

"The major technical problem is that we want this fertilizer to be rationed, it's one person per family no matter how many people are in the family. You buy one bag of D-Compound, one bag of CAN and this will be done to both to tobacco growers as well as maize, " said Mussa.

However, TAMA president Albert Kamulaga said that the government should have taken into consideration the malpractices, dishonesty and poor administration that surrounded the coupon system last year.

"It is unfortunate, because in tobacco, you don't need IDs, you need licenses. You also need to register for that and this ensures that only serious and committed farmers grow tobacco. With coupons, it was the holder who was benefiting," said Kamulaga.

Mussa said there would be a lot of confusion with the farmer clubs since the entire family would be expected to register for the subsidy. He added that it is not good for the government to change a system that he said has brought success

"We cannot experiment another system which we are not sure of when we already have a successful one, it's better to improve the shortfalls from last year other than starting with a new one," he said

Mussa said the areas which had been improved are supervision and administration.

"This year, there will be supervision teams at district level, area development committee, Admarc officials in the area, agriculture committee, members of the police and Members of Parliament," he said.

Mussa said that farmer clubs are there in the past to act as collateral for loans which the farmers acquired while the fertilizer subsidy is on cash basis.

Source: Xinhua