MALAWI 5. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY CATEGORY 1: WEBSITE agriculture.gov.mw The website was not up-to-date at the time of the survey. The organisation has social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube). However, none of these are regularly updated. n = 20 Yes No Partial Additional information Does the website contain the following: X 1. Up-to-date information? 2. A description of the organisation’s powers and structure, as well as its functions and responsibilities? 3. A list of laws, acts, etc, issued within the scope of its powers? 4. Copies of reports, policies or programmes? 5. Information on budget and expenditure? 6. Information about procurement procedures or signed contracts? 7. Information about vacancy and employment procedures? 8. The address, telephone number, and working hours of the organisation? 9. The contact details of specific public officials? X 10. A mechanism to request and receive responses to electronic messages and requests for information? X X X There are some policy documents. X There are some tender procedures but no signed contracts. X Working hours not provided. X X X Total score: 11/20 CATEGORY 2: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION A request for the following information was sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security: What was the ministry’s budgetary allocation for the year 2019-2020, and how much was disbursed? During the four-month provisional budget tabled by the Minister of Finance, he mentioned a fertiliser subsidy for 3.5 million smallholder farmers. How is the Ministry of Agriculture going to identify the beneficiaries of this subsidy? How does the ministry relay information about its projects to the general public? What are some of the notable achievements that the ministry has registered in the past five years? What are some of the notable challenges affecting the work of the ministry? y y y y y n = 20 Yes 1. Is there an official, who is designated to take and respond to information requests? X 2. Did the organisation reply within 21 days? X 3. Did the organisation respond to the request for information? X RETURN TO CONTENTS PAGE 70 No Partial Additional information Public Relations Officer