AHCX geared for marketing season

AHL Commodities Exchange (AHCX) says farmers using its platform will be linked with buyers looking for agriculture commodities in the country.

Speaking in an interview, the AHCX research and communications manager Mark Ndipita said the company, a subsidiary of AHL Group, formerly Auction Holdings Limited, has finalised some processes in preparation for the coming harvest season.

He said AHCX has since fumigated its warehouses strategically located across the country and has also finished servicing and certifying its weighing scales with the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS).

Ndipita said: “We are aware of this year’s increased commodity volumes farmers are expecting to harvest following government’s recent release of the final round crop estimates.

“We have competitive and better markets which will offer good prices that will benefit the farmers who toil in the field throughout the season to achieve bumper yields.”

He said at the moment, demand for different commodities is already building as the company “is in receipt of trade enquiries of different commodities such as maize, beans, groundnuts, soya beans, rice, cow peas, sun flower and pigeon peas, from local and international buyers.”

In a separate interview, Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) president Alfred Kapichira Banda said the warehouse receipt concept used by AHCX is a good idea but it would work well if farmers don’t keep their produce at warehouses for too long.

He said alternative markets would give the farmer an array of market options to choose from to sell his produce at a better price.

AHCX has since appealed to farmers to bring their produce because there are many trade enquiries which would work to the best interest of the farmers.

Ndipita said in the just ended season, AHCX facilitated exports for various commodities such as soya beans, groundnuts, beans and pigeon peas to international off-takers who offered competitive prices.