Committee for controls in pricing of fertiliser
Parliamentary Committee on Trade and Industry has proposed to government to take steps to tame the skyrocketing prices of fertiliser.
Committee members made the call in Lilongwe on Wednesday during a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Ministry of Agriculture.

During the meeting, they expressed concern about the prevailing high fertiliser prices.
Committee chairperson Arthur Chipungu said high prices of the commodity threaten agricultural production.
He said: “If farmers cannot manage to buy the fertiliser, there will be low production. This will also affect exports and the inflow of foreign exchange.”
The sentiments were echoed by committee member Mark Katsonga Phiri who accused agro-dealers of exploiting farmers.
He said it was ironic that while the landing price for fertiliser at the port of entry was K22 000 per 50 kilogramme, the market price is hovering around K135 000.
However, Katsonga Phiri did not indicate how much is incurred in transport and tax logistics, among others.
“The farming schemes such as mega farms that government was setting up to increase food production will be a flop if fertiliser prices are left unchecked,” he warned.
In response, Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary for Irrigation Services Geoffrey Mamba said the ministry was equally concerned with the fertiliser price trend.
“Fertiliser is one of the major inputs in crop production. The minister and his counterpart of Trade are equally concerned to an extent that we visited one of the fertiliser traders, Export Trading Group [ETG], on Tuesday to find out why prices are so high,” he said.
Fertiliser Association of Malawi spokesperson Hannah Makhambera said prices were high because importing firms are struggling to remit payments to international suppliers.
She said this is resulting in accrued interest and it is the accrued interest that is passed on to the farmer.
Said Makhambera: “The importation and trading of fertiliser was liberalised which means that suppliers have the freedom to set their own prices based on their source and philosophy, and buyers have the option to choose where to purchase from.
“In other countries, such as India, regulations set a maximum retail price for each product. However, this is not the case in Malawi.”
However, procurement expert Arnold Chirwa said it did not make sense that prices of fertiliser keep increasing when some of the products were procured last year.