BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
MBABANE – Walala wasala.
This idiom encapsulates the situation in the country as farmers take advantage of the Ministry of Agriculture’s farm inputs subsidy programme. This was confirmed today by BuildIt Mbabane and BuildIt Nhlangano as they revealed that some stocks had run out due to high demand and some supply constraints. BuildIt Mbabane and Nhlangano are part of Government’s network of partners in distributing farm inputs under the program.
Speaking to this reporter, Ncamiso Tsabedze who is in the Farming Department at BuildIt Mbabane speculated that the increased enthusiasm for the program this year is due to the increase in Government’s subsidy per farmer.
“We are currently out of stock so we aren’t distributing inputs these days. There was a much higher demand this year than last year. Last year, some farmers may have not been able to afford enough inputs based on what they have to contribute. However, this year it seems that more people were able to afford their share of the farm input costs. This year is much better,” said Tsabedze.
Tsabedze’s words were echoed by BuildIt Nhlangano Manager Mr Essa.
“As we speak, the manufacturers are packing and as the trucks come in, the stock gets immediately exhausted within a few hours,” said Essa, citing that the supply is not keeping up with the increased demand due to global supply chain constraints.
“The influx is very high. For the past two weeks we have been consistent, and it is just this week where we are experiencing challenges of supply inconsistency,” added Essa.
This year, Government increased their contribution towards farming inputs subsidisations. The farmer is expected to contribute 35% and Government contributes the balance of 65%. In addition, the upper limit of how much farmers can cultivate was increased from 1 hectare to 3 hectares.
According to the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Sydney Simelane, more than 7000 farmers have registered for the program, and over 10 000 hours of cultivation has already occurred under the programme.
The program has proven to be very effective over the years, as maize yield has gone from 86 000 metric tonnes to 127 000 metric tonnes in three years, according to the Minister of Agriculture.
