Farmers want minimum maize prices hiked

Maize farmers in the country have urged government to consider raising minimum prices for the grain in the face of rising farm input prices.

Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) president Alfred Kapichira Banda said during the season, fertiliser rose by an average of K4 000 to K23 000 per 50 kilogramme (kg) bag of maize; hence, it was only fair to raise the minimum price.

“We feel to compensate for the rising input prices and ensure that commercial farmers stay in business, it is only fair that government raises the minimum price to K250 per kg or K12 500 per 50 kg bag of maize. Otherwise, anything below K200 per kg would not match the production cost,” he said.

The plea comes ahead of the marketing season next month.

Maize is Malawi’s staple grain that traditionally impacts the country’s economy given its skewed influence in determining inflation rates as it constitutes 45.2 percent in the consumer price index (CPI) that determines the average rise in the cost of living.

At regional level, Malawi maize prices were recorded as the lowest in Southern and Eastern Africa, according to a latest report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (Ifpri) .

In contrast to the last five months, when maize prices were highest in Rwanda, the highest prices were reported in Nairobi-Kenya, followed by Dar es Salaam-Tanzania.

Last year, government had set K170 per kg as the minimum price for buying maize, when Malawi had produced more than 30 percent surplus in maize owing to good climatic conditions after two successive years of low output due to drought and floods.

This was, however, K80 below the minimum price for the grain the previous year.

In the 2017/18 season, however, the dry spell and fall armyworms is estimated to cut maize production by 40 percent or 210 740 tonnes and 10 percent or 73 201 tonnes respectively.

In a separate interview, Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Irrigation chairperson Joseph Chidanti-Malunga said caution must be exercised when setting the minimum prices since maize is Malawi’s staple.

“Basically, we are talking about people in the village being able to buy maize. On the other hand, we are talking as farming as a business where you have to sell at a price which makes business sense.

“What we are saying is: Can we be very careful to come up with the price that is going to be good for both the producer and the buyer. We want both sides to be happy. Now to come up with that price, we need to be very careful and continue consulting to come up with the best price which can leave all sides happy,” he said.

Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Joseph Mwanamvekha said his ministry is still consulting on the minimum prices from concerned stakeholders.