By Burnett Munthali
Malawi’s Mega Farms programme is facing a major loan-recovery crisis, with farmers contracted under the initiative having repaid only K15 billion of the K70 billion owed to government, leaving K55.8 billion outstanding.
Director of Mega Farms Henry Msatilomo disclosed the figures before Parliament’s Government Assurances and Public Reforms Committee on Wednesday, revealing the scale of the financial exposure facing the public agricultural programme.
Msatilomo appeared before the committee alongside officials from the Ministry of Agriculture led by Principal Secretary Erica Maganga.
The loans originated from the 2023/24 farming season, when 212 contracted farmers cultivated 8,092 hectares and produced about 23,000 metric tonnes of maize.
The programme expanded sharply in 2024/25, when 855 farmers cultivated 43,122 hectares and produced approximately 88,000 metric tonnes of maize.
Government subsequently changed its approach by engaging five institutions to participate in production, namely Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Malawi Defence Force, Malawi Prison Service, Greenbelt Authority and the Shire Valley Transformation Programme.
Together, the institutions cultivated 2,087 hectares and produced 6,811 metric tonnes of maize.
Msatilomo said the programme was financed with K57 billion, while accrued interest added another K13 billion, bringing the total financial obligation to K70 billion.
The financial exposure extends beyond farmers’ loans.
Input suppliers are still owed K27.9 billion from K48 billion worth of agricultural inputs supplied to the programme.
The government’s recovery efforts have also encountered legal obstacles, according to Msatilomo.
He said court injunctions obtained by some farmers had affected the department’s ability to recover outstanding debts.
Government has since engaged seven debt-collection companies in an effort to recover the money.
Mega Farmers Union chairperson Vasco Madhlopa acknowledged that farmers owe government money.
He said the union had obtained an injunction that was later vacated and that members would meet in October to determine the way forward.
Agriculture expert Leonard Chimwaza said weaknesses in due diligence contributed to the problems facing the programme.
He called for a more commercially driven model in future rather than an approach that allows beneficiaries to access public resources without sufficiently strong repayment safeguards.
Mwapata Institute executive director William Chadza also called for major changes in how beneficiaries are selected and financed.
He said stronger beneficiary targeting, insurance protection and mechanisms assigning proceeds from agricultural sales to lenders could help reduce future loan defaults.
Governance expert Willy Kambwandira said the scale of the outstanding debt should serve as a warning that the Mega Farms model requires fundamental reform.
He argued that public resources should not continue being committed to agricultural financing arrangements without clear accountability, viable markets and credible repayment mechanisms.
The financial questions surrounding Mega Farms come against a wider food-security challenge.
Despite substantial public investment in agricultural production, about four million Malawians, representing approximately 22 percent of the projected 2025/26 population, faced hunger.
Government has consequently been forced to import 200,000 metric tonnes of maize from Zambia.
The figures expose a difficult contradiction at the centre of Malawi’s agricultural policy.
Government has committed billions of kwacha to increasing agricultural production, yet a substantial portion of the money advanced through the Mega Farms programme remains unrecovered while food insecurity continues to affect millions of citizens.
The central issue now is not simply how much maize was produced.
It is whether the programme can become financially sustainable, recover public funds and deliver agricultural production at a scale capable of reducing Malawi’s dependence on food imports.
With K55.8 billion still outstanding, the Mega Farms programme faces a critical test of accountability, debt recovery and agricultural policy reform.
