As the first phase of Farm Input Loans Post Disbursement Monitoring Exercise in the Southern Region comes to a close, The National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Humphrey Mdyetseni, expressed his contentment with how NEEF clients have utilized both their cash and fertilizer loans.

The monitoring exercise conducted in Ntcheu district aimed at appreciating the impact of the 2024/2025 Farm Input Loan (FIL) program which benefited over 1,200 clients cultivating crops such as maize, tobacco, tomatoes as well as cowpeas in the district. Thus far, NEEF loans disbursement in the district totalled up to MK916,360,000.00.

During the exercise, the CEO visited Mrs. Bridget Chibwe, a devoted youth farmer belonging to Mzati youth group from Chitsulo village, Traditional Authority Ganya in Ntcheu district. The seven-member group accessed 70 bags of fertilizer with a loan amount of MK8,000,000.00 where Bridget received 12 bags. The young lady has a 6-acre farmland which has done exceptionally well and is expected to produce over 200 bags of maize and not less than 80 bags of cowpeas.

“I used to grow maize on two (2) acres of land and could only manage to apply fertilizer on one acre due to lack of resources. But now I am able to challenge myself with 6 acres of farmland because of the support I received through the FIL program,” said Chibwe.

Concurring with Chibwe, Maxwell Kapite from Kampite village, Traditional Authority Kwatayine, Ntcheu district, said NEEF has helped him reach a new level which he never expected. Kapites family has owned the farm for decades and it has been a great model for farming activities in his community such that the late Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda visited in 1979 when it was being managed by his parents.

However, in the recent years, Kapite faced challenges to manage the 5-acre land due to lack of capital for farm inputs. He however, remained hopeful that the 9 bags of fertilizer he acquired through the Farm Inputs Loan program will help him preserve his family's farming legacy.

Applauding clients such as Kapito, the CEO commended their hard work and alerted them to also utilize NEEF’s irrigations loans which will roll out in April followed by the second phase in August 2025. “I urge all farmers who own “dambo” farms to mobilize themselves, form cooperatives and make use of NEEF’s irrigation loans. Our desire is to end hunger in Malawi through these initiatives," explained Mdyetseni.

Currently, NEEF has disbursed over MK62 billion under Farm Inputs loan in the 2024/2025 financial year and over 55,000 clients have benefited with 419,424 acres of land cultivated.