Mercy Chilembwe from Nthambala Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Kalumbu in Lilongwe had a bad experience with hybrid seeds last year.
She recalls buying seeds packaged in green plastic bags that never germinated.
Chilembwe, whom we met while buying new hybrid seeds for the upcoming farming season, said she has learnt from the experience and is now careful to buy certified products.
“I bought a five-kilogramme pack of seeds from an unknown man on a market day. Their germination was not impressive and I later discovered some of my friends who bought the same seeds experienced the same.
“We were carried away by the cheap prices, but we were forced to look for other types of seeds to replant, which was costly to our farming,” she said.
Another farmer, Alifosina Banda from Zulu Village, T/A Njewa in Lilongwe, said she stopped using chemical fertilisers in 2023 after being duped by fake products.
Banda, whom we found tending to her winter crops, said she bought what she believed to be Urea for her maize garden, but was immediately suspicious of its colour.
She said when she applied it to her maize, it showed no signs of improvement and ended up with no harvest.
“I made up my mind to use manure. With prices of fertilisers so high and being duped, it is a raw deal. I don’t trust chemical fertilisers anymore because of that bad experience. I think manure is better because I know the process of making them and it’s easy,” said Banda.
Farmers Union of Malawi president Maness Nkhata said the circulation of fake farm inputs is widespread, driven by farmers’ desperation and limited access to affordable products.
In an interview on Friday, Nkhata said while authorities continue to conduct market surveillance, many farmers are still falling victim to counterfeit products.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development has cautioned farmers to remain alert against counterfeit seeds amid rising agro-input prices as the new planting season kicks off across the country.
Commodity team leader in the Seed Services Department in the ministry Nathan Kachiguma said unscrupulous dealers are flooding the market selling substandard and fake products, posing a serious threat to productivity and food security.
He said with last season’s weather pattern, more farmers are desperate for seeds as crop production was reduced by 22 percent, leaving many with little options.
“Counterfeits thrive where farmers are desperate or unaware. If you check the prices of hybrid seeds on the market, you will see that most of them are fetching at as high as K150 000 per 10 kilogrammes for maize.
“Smallholders farmers from rural areas would opt for cheaper seeds and when unscrupulous traders come in with such an offer, they get swayed and purchase fake seeds which are dangerous for farming. This has been the trend for the past five years. Always ask questions, verify seals and demand receipts from licensed shops,” he said.
Asked about surveillance preparations as the new farming seasons kicks in, Kachiguma said underfunding cripples the department’s operations.
“We rely on Affordable Inputs Programme [AIP] allocation. The little we get is not sufficient to see through our operations. In the end, market surveillance falls short,” he added.
Seed Traders Association of Malawi (Stam) business development officer Supply Chisi said demand for seed is high in Malawi.
He said for example, 40 000 metric tonnes of maize seed is demanded by farmers annually, but seed producers manage about 18 000 metric tonnes, giving room for unscrupulous traders to take undue advantage.
Stam estimates show that fake and uncertified seed yields about 700 kilogrammes per hectare, short of potential 5 000 to 12 000 kilogrammes per hectare.
“Farmers who use fake seeds risk poor germination, reduced yields or total crop failure. This year, we have not registered any incident, but from the demand for seed, there is room some may try to sell their uncertified seeds. We are alert to deal with a possible threat of this nature,” said Chisi.
Agriculture think-thank Mwapata Institute executive director William Chadza says Malawian farmers have long contended with the spread of adulterated seeds in local markets.
He said the seeds are paraded as high-yielding varieties, but they blight productivity and slash farmers’ income despite billions invested in the agricultural industry
Chadza estimates that between 30 to 40 percent of seed found on the market is fake.
“We have a challenge of counterfeit seeds in our seed system which is limiting agricultural driven economic growth and development. Fake seeds either fail to germinate altogether or produce stunted crops.
“Bad value chain actors are taking advantage of farmers’ inability to determine which seed is genuine. They are mimicking the colour of certified seeds and package grain as genuine seed,” he said.
Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) is conducting fertiliser surveillance on the market following rising complaints of sale and packaging of defective fertiliser contrary to its compliance with the mandatory labelling requirements as stipulated in the applicable Mandatory Malawi Standards.
MBS deputy director of quality assurance Demester Kumvenji said selling underweight and adulteration of fertilisers to cheat unsuspecting customers is a punishable offence apart from being unethical.
He said they registered incidences in Blantyre, Balaka, Dedza and some parts of Central Region where traders are repackaging expired fertiliser.
“The proliferation of counterfeit fertilisers poses a significant threat to the country’s agriculture sector; the impact on production is multifaceted, encompassing economic, environmental and social dimensions.
“Addressing this issue requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders. Recent investigations have revealed rising cases of adulteration, fake labelling, underweight packaging, illegal production and poor labelling of fertilisers on the local market,” said Kumvenji.
He said the bureau found that some traders are mixing fertilisers with sand or soil, repackaging uncertified products and selling them as genuine, while others are violating the Metrology Act by selling underweight bags.
Malawi is sitting on maize deficit of 600 000 metric tonnes, after only 2.9 million metric tonnes were realised in the 2024/25 growing season against a requirement of 3.6 million tonnes.
President Peter Mutharika on Friday issued a stern warning to traders selling fake fertilisers, calling on the police and MBS to be on the ground to deal with the malpractice.
