Government advised to quickly revise FISP guidelines

The Civil Society for Poverty Reduction CSPR has called on the government to expedite the reviewing process in the manner FISP, the Farmer Input Support Programme is being implemented.
Advocacy and Communications Officer, Maxson Nkhoma says CSPR has over the years received numerous complaints from the farming community across the country about the manner in which FISP is being implemented.
Mr. Nkhoma says that the Programme has been associated with wide spread corruption accusations within the distribution chain.
He says that this has resulted in the intended vulnerable people who are supposed to benefit from the programme being left out over the years.
Mr. Nkhoma also says that FISP should be depoliticized and be implemented according to the initial objectives of the programme.
He says that CSPR therefore welcomes any efforts aimed at improving the efficiency, accountability and effectiveness in the implementation process of the programme.
Mr. Nkhoma has noted that FISP is a very important and key programme of strategic focus which if well implemented would go a long way in enhancing household and national food security while improving the standard of living of the vulnerable people in society.
And Mr. Nkhoma says that CSPR has observed with regret that during the implementation period of FISP poverty levels amongst small scale farmers remain very high at 59.1 per cent while that among medium scale farmers increased from 44.9 in 2006 to 48.2 per cent currently.