GVH Mkawera, Village Headman Murupi and Kopolande under the Sub-Traditional Chidothe have told Zodiak Online on Monday that they fear hunger this year in the area, after their subjects had on several occasions been sent back at Thabwa centre without being scanned.

"I don't know why the government has abandoned us in initiative this year. No one has been scanned and accessed fertiliser in my village. I am afraid my subjects may face severe hunger than the current one," Chief Kopolande said.

Meanwhile, Thyolo District Commissioner, Rosemary Nawasha was not sure of what will happen to the concerned beneficiaries.

“It's not clear when the farmers with scanned IDs will finish receiving their fertilizers," she said.

Some two weeks ago, government suspended the AIP scanning exercise of the IDs in order to sell to those who had theirs cleared.

This year's AIP  has been marred by the logistical challenges and sustainable availability of the fertiliser, a situation which forced the government to press a punic button, asking the parliamentarians to come in and help to dispatch the inputs to their areas through a mobile vending arrangement.