Admarc sounds SOS, seeks 20 000MT maize
State produce dealer, the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc), has asked government to help it source about 20 000 metric tonnes (MT) of maize to be sold to Malawians who will not have food from January 2014.
Admarc director of operations Feckson Kantonga told the Agricultural Committee of Parliament in Lilongwe yesterday that the produce trader only has 7 500MT in its stocks which is expected to last until mid-January and Malawians would not have maize to buy to last until the next harvest.
Said Kantonga: “We have applied to government to release maize from the strategic grain reserves [SGR] for use between January and the next harvest [in April]. We will need an additional 20 000MT to bridge the gap so that there is a continuous sell of maize in our markets.”
Admarc bought 8 500MT of maize locally through a K1.3 billion funding from government, which was approved in the 2013/14 budget.
Government also diverted $1.2 million meant for purchase of maize from Zambia towards buying an additional 7 000MT.
The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee survey found that about 1.4 million Malawians would face food shortages in the country until the next harvest.
While refusing to confirm that there was hunger in the country, Kantonga told the committee that Admarc had been registering long queues at its markets since April 2013, a time when Malawians should have started consuming produce from their gardens.
He said: “If people are queuing at Admarc, it means where they are coming from there is no maize. In the past, Admarc would have 100 000MT for sell, but now we are rationing 15 000MT. The situation is bad.”
Responding to a question from Mzuzu City Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Mwanza on the possibility of Admarc selling produce at commercial market prices, Kantonga said maize was a social crop which could not be sold at the market price.
Admarc has been selling maize at K80 per kilogramme (kg) whereas commercially the crop is selling at K125 per kg.
Kantonga attributed this disparity to government’s subsidy of the crop as a social security measure.
As a result, Admarc has not been able to source funds through commercial bank loans to enable it buy maize for profit making and has instead relied on extending a begging bowl to government because it is no longer subvented.
