State produce trader Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) has opened its markets in the Central and Northern regions, making a total of 360 operational markets nationwide.
The market opening extension comes at a time maize prices continue to rise in most parts of the country and Admarc is seen as a price stabiliser.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, Admarc chief executive officer Daniel Makata said Admarc has a stock of about 18 000 metric tonnes (MT) of maize ready for distribution to all the 360 markets.
He said out of the 360 markets, 120 are standby or seasonal while the other 240 are permanent facilities.
Makata said Admarc is selling the staple grain at K790 per kilogramme (kg), translating to K39 500 per 50kg bag.
He said: “In December we received 10 000 metric tonnes of maize [from the Strategic Grain Reserve]. So we will be disturbing across the country in addition to another 8 000 metric tonnes that we had.
“So, all our markets will be open starting from today [yesterday].We have the maize and we are ready. We are going to ensure that people have access to the maize.”
Spot-checks in some parts of the country shows that a 50kg bag of maize ranges from K42 500 to K70 000.
At Lunzu Trading Centre in Blantyre, a five-litre plastic bucket of maize popularly known as chigoba is at K7 000, translating to K70 000 per 50kg bag. The bucket is equivalent to 5 kg.
In Lilongwe, a 50kg bag of maize is at K55 000 in Kauma Township while at Kalenga Trading Centre in Kasungu, a kilogramme of maize is fetching K850, translating to K42 500 per 50kg bag.
In its report on the 2024/25 harvest season, the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee, a multi-stakeholder grouping, projected an escalation in food prices, especially during the lean season.
The report also projected that about 5.7 million Malawians would face hunger during the lean period from last October.
In a separate interview, National Food Reserve Agency chief executive officer George Macheka said as of yesterday, they had about 59 000MT of maize in stock.
However, he said the available maize was not enough to reach the next harvesting season, a situation that has compelled them to continue purchasing maize from traders.
Said Macheka: “In total, we had 105 667.95metric tonnes. Out of that, we have dispatched 40 698.02 MT to Dodma [Department of Disaster Management Affairs] and 5 874.54 MT to Admarc. So our stock balance is 59 095.40 MT.”
About two weeks ago, Grain Traders Association of Malawi president Grace Mijiga Mhango was upbeat about maize availability in the country, citing steady inflow of maize from Tanzania and Mozambique.
