RED BAILS OUT YOUTHFUL FARMERS

Youthful couple – Braveson Chithope, 28, and Lezina Keliasi, 25 – from Kumitengo Village, Nyanja Extension Planning Area (EPA) under Senior Chief Kalumbu in Lilongwe has all reasons to walk tall as the 2025/2026 growing season harvesting period approaches. The couple had always desired to farm beyond subsistence, but low access to inputs coupled with unforgiving long dry spells, had always stood in the way over the past growing seasons. But the young couple is singing a different song in the 2025/2026 growing season as, by 10th February, 2026, the Chithopes’ maize crop field had already confirmed a pending bumper yield, with long and healthy maize cobs in their field. “It’s a one-acre field and as you can see, the yield is very promising,” explained Chithope’s wife, Lezina, during a media tour mid-February, 2026, and she went on: “We are expecting not less than 80 bags of maize from this field as the variety that you’re seeing here is a long duration variety, which yields way beyond 100 bags per acre.” Her husband, Braveson, had expressed similar optimism earlier, mid-January, when the Minister of Agriculture, Roza Mbilizi, had visited the stand as the maize crop was just about to tassel. Braveson and his wife are among farmers in Lilongwe who benefitted from the Response to Emergency and Disaster (RED), a contingency component within the Sustainable Agricultural Production Programme (SAPP II), designed to respond to emergencies and disaster that may arise in Malawi. Despite the dry spell that threatened farmers in a number of districts, including Lilongwe and Balaka, most RED beneficiaries have been least affected, with their maize crop promising a bumper yield, raising hopes of prosperity among older, and younger farmers like Braveson and his wife, Lezina. “When we harvest our maize, we plan to reserve a few bags for consumption up to the other harvest and sell the rest,” explained Lezina, adding: “Then we will invest the generated income into a business of our choice and make more gains.”

SAPP II TAKES ANOTHER MILE ON GOAT PASS ON PROGRAMM

DAESS Technical Advice and Key Reflection Questions for Committees Upangiri othandiza ntchito DAESS ndi mafunso opita ku makomiti a DAESS The questions to guide discussion and self-assessment at all DAESS committee levels (VAC, VASP,AASP, DSP and DAECC) Mafunso otsgolera zokambirana komanso kawuniwuni wa makomita a nthambi zonse DAES Message 1: DAESS is Demand-Driven Uthenga Woyamba: Anthu amayenera kufunsa/kupempha ntchito za DAESS Key Question:

SAPP II imparting good agricultural practices

Kasoni applauded SAPP II for imparting good agricultural practices, including soil conservation, proper ridging and planting, which he attributed RED Component’s success to. “Farmers under RED have made a notable difference in our area and, although we have a few weeks to go before harvest time, the fields are promising us a bumper harvest,” explained Kasoni, himself a RED beneficiary. From his one-acre piece of land where he planted certified maize seed, Kasoni is expecting not less than 80 bags of maize, which he plans to sell, after reserving enough to feed his family– an experience the GVH confesses he hasn’t had for years. “A leader must lead by example in all aspects: A leader who can’t feed himself doesn’t command respect from his/her subjects – and it’s even worse when the subjects, themselves, also can’t feed themselves,” reasoned Kasoni. He added: “A hungry leader can easily fall into the trap of corruption to earn a living; but RED Component under SAPP II has draped us chiefs in a robe of honour by, above all else, enabling us and our subjects to be food secure.”

MOBILE MARKETING SYSTEM GAME-CHANGER IN REDEEMING SUBSIDIZED INPUTS

A 100 percent redemption rate of subsidized agriculture inputs has been registered in the Response to Emergencies and Disasters (RED) component in the Sustainable Agriculture Production Programme (SAPPII). The programme is being implemented in Balaka and Lilongwe, where a total of 22,000 household beneficiaries accessed subsidized fertilisers and free certified maize seed. According to the programme’s national coordinator, RexBaluwa, the redemption rate was at 100 percent and he attributed the success to the system they have been using. The system is called Mobile Marketing System where farmers are found at a strategic point with the farm inputs and are encouraged to redeem as a group thereby reducing expenses by individual beneficiaries. Agriculture Extension Development Officer (AEDO) from Ulongwe Extension Planning Area (EPA) in Balaka district under Machinga Agriculture Development Division (ADD) Jackson Juwawo, confirmed the perfect input redemption rate. In Ulongwe EPA, all the 2,025 recipients from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) supported programme redeemed their inputs. Even in the wake of the dry spells which hit the district,Juwawo is optimistic that the SAPP II intervention will have still achieved a positive impact on the season’s production. He attributed the mobile marketing system as a game-changer behind the programme’s success noting that even vulnerable populations got their inputs. “This programme has a success story in the sense that most of the targeted farmers have at once accessed all the inputs. The normal subsidy programme where farmers have to go to the markets to buy inputs at the market takes longer. “But this one we were using as a Mobile Marketing System where we’re first redeeming then the fertilizer comes later; so all the farmers collected the inputs at once,” he explained. He further indicated there were no distribution challenges as there were no vendors or middlemen involved in the programme.

Satisfied Beneficiary with SAPP II

Tuweni Dayisoni, a beneficiary of Response to Emergency and Disasters (RED) component under Sustainable Agriculture Production Programme (SAPPII) indicated that in the past two years, it has been challenging for farmers in the district to buy fertilizer and expressed hope that organizations would come to their rescue. In this year’s farming season, she said that no-one in Bwaila Ward received subsidized fertiliser; but the coming in SAPP II has made a difference and if it wasn’t for the initiative, many could not afford to buy fertiliser at the prevailing market prices. She expressed gratitude with the SAPP II intervention sponsored by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) which has made it possible for her to continue farming and appealed to authorities to ensure affordable fertilizer prices.

Subsidized farm inputs overcoming food insecurity, boosting incomes

Beneficiaries of the subsidized farm inputs programme under the Sustainable Agriculture Production Programme (SAPP II) financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have hailed the initiative as a real game changer, in attaining food security at household level. Through the initiative, maize seed is fully paid for by the project meaning the farmers redeemed it at zero cost while fertilisers were redeemed at K10, 000 per 50- kilogramme bag in line with the government's Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP). One of the beneficiaries, Lezina Keliyasi, explained that after being shortlisted as one of the recipients of the subsidized inputs, preparations in her maize field started in earnest. She confessed that previously, she was just doing farming without properly taking care of her crops and not applying enough fertiliser but now the approach is different. “The coming in of the affordable fertiliser from SAPP II has enabled me to apply it in my maize garden this year and the expectation is that I will have a bumper harvest of not less than 80 bags per acre. “Here in T/A Kalumbu’s area we used to harvest maize but it wasn’t enough to last the whole year at our household; but this time around as a family, we will have enough to eat and some to sell, we expect to do more business as SAPP II is encouraging us to generate more income,” said Keliyasi. SAPP II comes after the Sustainable Agriculture Production Programme (SAPP) which was also funded by IFAD and supported farmers with different interventions, including livestock pass-on programme. SAPP II has the Response to Emergencies and Disasters (RED) component which mostly caters for access to food security at household level. It is a complementary initiative to FISP targeting smallholder farmers affected by disaster. However, some of the beneficiaries under the component reported increased prospects of income from the yields. Keliyasi has since urged fellow farmers to be self-starters, determined and use organic manure for their crops so that they should not only rely on government support. Senior Group Village Headman Kalumbu from Traditional Authority Kalumbu in Lilongwe indicated that he was happy with the progress made. The chief explained that when the RED component started in Nyanja Extension Planning Area (EPA), identified beneficiaries received free certified maize seed and redeemed fertiliser on time. Senior Group Village Headman Kalumbu said farmers expect to harvest more than 80 bags courtesy of the advice from extension staff encouraging farmers to follow good agriculture practices. He called on his subjects to be involved in farming activities in order to achieve food and income security.