Donors and development agencies are worried that the political standoff in Malawi, which has led to the indefinite suspension of the vote on the 2007/08 budget, might set back recovery in the agriculture sector after the 2005 drought.

The budget vote was suspended on 24 July after opposition parties - the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), who hold the majority of seats in parliament - refused to debate the budget until a standoff over the defection of their members to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), led by President Bingu wa Mutharika, had been resolved. The government is currently being funded from a monthly skeleton budget.

The DPP welcomed 60 defectors into its fold, bringing its tally of members in parliament to 80, but last month Malawi's Supreme Court granted powers to the Speaker of Parliament to expel defecting lawmakers, a decision that would affect the strength of the ruling party. The opposition has about 110 seats, the largest bloc in parliament.

News reports said Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe had expressed concern that the government would not be able to buy fertiliser for distribution on time. A successful fertiliser subsidy programme has been cited as the one of the main reasons for the recovery of Malawi's agricultural sector after a drought in 2005 left almost five million people in need of food aid.

"If the fertiliser subsidy programme is disrupted, the gains made in the past three years could be eroded," Sam Chimwaza, country representative of the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), told IRIN. "The donor community is very concerned."

Shenard Mazengera, advocacy manager of the UK-based development agency, Oxfam, said although fertiliser distribution only began in December, "as huge quantities are involved, orders have to be placed in advance ... If the procurement of the fertiliser is not approved, it means there might a delay."

Malawi's food shortage in 2005 was compounded by the late delivery of fertilisers and seed.

The deadline for approval of the budget was originally set for 30 June. "We have a week's time and the issue might be resolved," said Hetherwick Ntaba, DPP spokesman and a member of the cabinet. "The cabinet and government officials are meeting to look for a solution."

Mutharika has spent almost three conflict-ridden years in power, at the centre of a tense standoff with the opposition that has stalled the functioning of the house and delayed the approval of bills.

The political crisis began when Mutharika left the UDF, shortly after it had sponsored him in the 2004 general elections, to form his own political organisation, the DPP. The UDF hit back with an impeachment charge, accusing Mutharika of using US$300,000 of public money to launch the DPP.

The political confrontation at the height of a food security crisis in Malawi in 2005 even aroused the donor community's concern. Donors wrote to opposition political leaders, voicing their anxiety over the impeachment proceedings while the country was experiencing a "serious and prolonged food crisis".