The Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) has so far reached to 79% of the intended beneficiaries as of 6 January 2020.

In an interview with Yoneco FM online spokesperson in the ministry of Agriculture Gracian Lungu said they are optimistic that by mid-January the remaining 21% beneficiaries will have been reached.

He mentioned that the holidays delayed the programme since  many shops were closed.

“There were low sales during festivities but since we came back the sales have gone up and this gives us confidence that we are on the right track,” Lungu said.

Meanwhile an agriculture expert Tamani Nkhono Mvula has doubted that the number is a true reflection of beneficiaries but rather it is the amount of fertilizer that has been distributed.

“The AIP wanted to reach out to around 4 million beneficiaries initially but there were challenges at the beginning of the programme and this left out most of the beneficiaries without fertilizer.

“There is a high possibility that those that have got the fertilizer have not applied it, they may have used it otherwise.”

Nkhono Mvula also worried that this may impact on earlier predictions of production.