Ministry of Agriculture is yet to release the first round of crop production estimates, drawing concerns from stakeholders who say the delay is frustrating their planning.
In four of the past six years, the ministry released the first round of crop estimates between February and March.
Yesterday, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale did not respond to The Nation calls and WhatsApp messages.
But on March 13 this year, the minister told The Nation to wait for the crop estimates at the end of March, claiming that the ministry was holding on to the information because last year estimates set confused stakeholders.
“No, they [first crop estimates] confused people last year, so let us not repeat that,” Kawale said in a written response.
On the other hand, the ministry’s Principal Secretary responsible for technical services Medrina Mloza Banda claimed they do not release first round production estimates because they “are for internal use only”, an assertion that is incorrect based on historical trends we have reviewed.
She said: “Rather, we release second and third round estimates. The second round estimates are released in April each year.
“We had the national meeting last week and the results are going through authorisations. Once they are cleared the ministry will inform the public.”
In the past, the ministry has released the first round of crop estimates by the first week of February with the second one coming around April.
In an interview yesterday, an official from one of the country’s agricultural development divisions (ADDs) said they sent results of the first round crop production survey to the ministry in January and the second round survey results were dispatched last week.
Reacting to the development, Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) expressed worry with the delayed release of the agricultural production estimates, saying the figures help farmers to come up with proper strategies for marketing their produce.
In an interview yesterday, FUM president Maness Nkhata said in the absence of data on crop production estimates, farmers are being exploited by vendors.
Grain Traders Association of Malawi president Grace Mijiga Mhango also said the estimates are important because they guide traders to work out their own trading figures.
She said: “Besides that, we can tell whether we have a food shortage and we start planning for imports or we have plenty then we search for local markets.”
Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture chairperson Sameer Suleman said it is surprising that the estimates are not out when the committee met the ministry in February officials promised to release the crop outlook report at the time.
On his part, agricultural economist and development expert Tamani Nkhono-Mvula said the delay was concerning because the data helps stakeholders in determining the nature of interventions required to help farmers.
He said: “If we wait for the third round estimates, it may be too late for interventions.”
But in a separate interview, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources agriculture economist Horace Phiri said the delay is not worrying because experts at the ministry need time to release data that reflects reality on the ground.
The 2024/25 growing season has been characterised by erratic rainfall and dry spells experienced in December and January, leaving crops wilting.
In an interview yesterday, Kasungu ADD programmes manager Yusuf Shaibu said districts under the ADD also experienced a dry spell for two weeks in March, which has wilted crops.
In the 2023/24 season, the first round of crop estimates was released on February 26 2024 while the 2022/23 outlook was out on February 27 2023.
For the 2021/22 growing season it was released bon March 7 2022 and in the 2018/19 season; the Ministry of Agriculture announced the estimates on February 26 2019.
Incompetence