Between April and now, Admarc Limited says it has purchased 3 100 metric tonnes (MT) of maize against a targeted quantity of 20 000MT.
In total, the State produce trader Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) is targeting to purchase 70 000MT in the 2025 harvesting season. However, about 20 000MT was planned for the first phase using the K20 billion allocation in the 2025/26 National Budget while the 50 000MT balance will be bought using K95 billion that Admarc is expecting to borrow from commercial banks.
Admarc Limited spokesperson Theresa Chapulapula, in an interview yesterday, said the 3 100MT only covers the Southern Region markets.
are now open. | Nation
She said Admarc will now move to the Central and Northern regions to source the maize.
Chapulapula said Admarc has sufficient funds from the budget allocation to continue purchasing the first phase of 20 000MT.
On measures put in place to meet the 70 000MT target, she said Admarc will open markets in the Central and Northern regions.
She said: “Increased purchases from the Central and Northern regions are expected starting this month. All markets are open, and we are buying maize, cowpeas, pigeon peas, soybeans, groundnuts, beans, rice and cotton.”
Commenting on the development, agriculture expert Leonard Chimwaza said it is unfortunate that despite offering good prices, Admarc has not managed to purchase a reasonable quantity of maize about two months since its April.
He said: “It must be known that we have livestock industry in Malawi which also relies on the arable crops as part of the raw materials for feed formulation.”
On his part, another expert Tamani Nkhono-Mvula expressed optimism that Admarc can still meet its 70 000MT target.
Speaking when Admarc appeared before the parliamentary budget cluster committees on Agriculture and Food Security as well as on Natural Resources and Climate Change in March this year, Admarc chief executive officer Daniel Makata said the K20 billion allocated to the State grain trader in the 2025/26 can only buy about 17 000MT of maize.
