Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) says it needs K300 billion to buy at least 250 000 metric tonnes (MT) of maize from farmers to effectively stabilise prices of the grain on the market.
Speaking in Lilongwe on Thursday when Admarc appeared before the parliamentary budget cluster committees on Agriculture and Food Security as well as on Natural Resources and Climate Change, Admarc chief executive officer Daniel Makata said the K20 billion government has allocated to the State grain trader in the proposed 2025/26 National Budget can only buy about 17 000MT of maize, which will make it hard for the parastatal to effectively stabilise the increasing maize prices on the market.
The K300 billion Admarc wants is 15 times more than the K20 billion allocation for maize purchases. In total government has allocated K60 billion towards maize purchases, of which K40 billion will go to National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA).
Makata said if Admarc had capacity to stock the 250 000MT, it would have flooded its markets with maize during the lean season which covers six months from October to March.
Prices of maize have risen exponentially over the lean period in the past few months, with a 50 kilogramme (kg) bag selling at as high as K110 000 in some parts of the country, after averaging about K35 000 prior to the lean season.
Said Makata: “We need a minimum of 250 000 tonnes for us to make maize available in all our 349 markets so that people should have access to maize throughout that period where there is demand.
“You see, this year the demand is high, but the maize is not as available to the people because of the quantities that we have. If we don’t buy, that means we will have nothing to sell.”
He said this year Admarc was provided 20 000MT to help stabilize maize prices, which he said was not enough to be distributed to all its 349 markets and respond to the six months lean period.
In response, the cluster committee’s co-chairperson Werani Chilenga said the cluster supports Admarc’s call for resources, noting that the past years the country has had challenges with stocking adequate maize to address hunger.
He said the cluster has agreed that the whole K60 billion allocated for maize purchases in the proposed 2025/2026 National Budget should go to Admarc, and Treasury should also provide the extra K240 billion to make it K300 billion for maize purchases.
Said Chilenga: “Admarc should be capacitated to start buying maize in good time before vendors take advantage of the farmers. We don’t want a repeat of what happened this year.”
In an interview yesterday, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale supported the calls for increased funding for maize purchases by Admarc.
“Admarc and the ministry speak the same language. What they said is what the ministry also wants,” he said.
On her part, Grain Traders Association of Malawi chairperson Grace Mijiga Mhango described the K20 billion allocation for maize purchases as inadequate, saying the parastatal cannot be expected to stock enough maize to play the price stabilisation role with that amount.
She said: “The 250 000MT should cover both Admarc and NFRA. It is better if Admarc gets 100 000MT and NFRA gets 150 000MT.
“Unless they want the tonnage for commercial function, otherwise the price stabilisation is a social function and in some way it is subsidized. You cannot subsidise all that. If they want for their commercial operations, they should get a bank facility.”
NFRA recently indicated that it needs K150 billion to buy at least 105 000MT for the national strategic grain reserves this year.
Last year, the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee estimated that 5.7 million people were food-insecure and they required food assistance during the 2024/2025 lean season. The total food requirement was estimated to be 261 574MT.
