Malawi Enterprise Development Fund (Medf) on Tuesday auctioned farm inputs and equipment in Mzuzu, attracting mixed reactions from participants over pricing, communication and the organisation of the exercise.
The auction, conducted by Hannah Hera Auctioneers in collaboration with Medf, involved fertilisers, pesticides, solar panels, water pumps and other farming equipment left over from the 2025/26 farming season.
Speaking in an interview, Medf spokesperson Elizabeth Mapemba said the auction was necessitated by over-procurement during the previous winter cropping and farm inputs programme, which left the fund with a significant quantity of equipment in stock.
“The fund, therefore, decided to sell the surplus stock and use the proceeds for reimbursement,” she said.
Mapemba said the exercise reduced the risk of damage to the items in storage.
She added that the auction, which was open to the general public, except Medf staff, included solar irrigation pumps and accessories, NPK fertiliser, liquid nano fertiliser and other items.
“Since the auction was publicly advertised through newspapers and other digital platforms, the process is open, transparent and fair to all eligible participants,” said Mapemba.
Hannah Hera Auctioneers operations officer Tayub Jussab said the company collaborated with Medf to conduct the sale which concurrently took place in Mangochi and Blantyre, involving similar farm inputs and machinery.
One of the farmers who attended the auction sale, Christina Kumwenda, said that she achieved her objective and described the bidding process as transparent.
“Everything was done transparently and we saw it. We saw who bought what,” she said.
However, Kumwenda said publicity of the auction sale was poor, adding that participants had to pay K210 000 in total, comprising K10 000 as auction fee and K200 000 refundable collateral, which would form part of the payment for successful bidders or be refunded to those who did not purchase anything.
Kumwenda said some inputs were sold at prices that were fairer than those offered by ordinary vendors but questioned the pricing of fertiliser.
“As farmers, we expected that bidding for fertilisers would start from K80 000 to K120 000 but their benchmark was from K165 000 upwards,” she said.
