The Government of Eswatini has committed E59.2 million to the Input Subsidy and Tractor-Hire Programme, which is expected to benefit around 8,130 farmers across the country during the 2025/26 cropping season.
The announcement was made by the Minister of Agriculture, Mandla Tshawuka, during a media briefing held at the Ministry of Agriculture’s conference room in Mbabane.
Tshawuka explained that the programme, administered by the National Maize Corporation (NMC), will be more strictly regulated this season to ensure that vulnerable and small-scale farmers remain the primary beneficiaries.
“Farmers with stable incomes, pegged at a gross earning of more than E12,000 per month, will not be eligible to participate in the programme,” he said. “This initiative is meant to help everybody, not just the well heeled. We will work with the tinkhundla and require applicants to declare their salaries on the subsidy form. We will also check applicants’ IDs with the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) to verify eligibility. If an applicant does not qualify, we will notify them.”
The minister also announced that no farmer will be allowed to benefit from the subsidy for more than three consecutive years, ensuring wider access.
“Applicants who have received the subsidy during any of the previous three seasons will be barred from applying for a fourth consecutive season. This is so that other farmers can also benefit from the scheme,” Tshawuka stated.
The minister shared figures from the previous season, where the cost of inputs was equally shared between government and farmers. For example, one hectare of maize cost E11,400, with government covering E5,700 (50%) and farmers contributing the balance. Beans and sorghum packages followed the same model, budgeted at E9,200 and E6,000 respectively.
However, Tshawuka noted that actual input prices had increased last season, particularly for beans, where the total cost rose to E11,400 instead of the budgeted E9,200. The government absorbed the additional E2,200. In total, 6,079 farmers benefited from the subsidy in the 2024/25 season.
For the 2025/26 season, the input packages and their prices stand at:
| Commodity Government’s | Total Cost | Government’s Share | Farmer’s Share |
| Maize | E12 000 | E6 000 | E6 000 |
| Beans | E12 000 | E6 000 | E6 000 |
| Sorghum | E6 400 | E3 200 | E3 200 |
The tractor-hire scheme will continue at the same subsidised rates as last season. Farmers will pay E400 per tractor hour, while government contributes E180, bringing the total cost to E580 per hour. Once the allocated budget is exhausted, farmers will bear the full cost of E580 per hour.
Payments for the input subsidy programme will begin on Monday, 1 September 2025, with applications closing on 30 September 2025 or earlier if the allocated budget is fully utilised.
Farmers can make payments through Eswatini Bank, MTN MoMo, and Eswatini Mobile’s e-Mali platforms, which remain unchanged from previous years.