Fertiliser Association of Malawi (FAM) says its members currently hold 267 190 metric tonnes (MT), an improvement on 192 794MT of fertiliser recorded in August, but still below the annual requirement of 475 000MT.
FAM executive administration officer Hannah Makhambera said in an interview yesterday that out of the total stock, 26 962MT is in warehouses, 158 628MT in transit and 81 600MT on the high seas en route to Malawi.
She said limited access to foreign exchange remained the major challenge impacting the importation of fertiliser.
“The key cha l l enge affecting importation is the unavailability of forex for settling international t r a n s a c t i o n s , ” s a i d Makhambera.
Ma lawi requires 475 000MT of fertiliser annually for the Affordable Input Programme (AIP) and other farmers.
Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary Dickxie Kampani was yet to respond to a questionnaire on how government is handling the matter.
Ma lawi Government allocated K131.6 billion to AIP in the 2025/26 National Budget, down from K161 billion during the previous season.
However, the Ministry of Agriculture is yet to start distribution of inputs or announce the number of beneficiaries.
On the market , a 50 kilogramme bag of NPK fertiliser is selling between K150 000 and K160 000 while Urea is fetching around K166 000.
Re c e n t l y, Mwa p a t a Institute director William Chadza warned that low fertiliser supply on the market could result in higher prices, making it unaffordable for most of the farmers and leading to low crop yields particularly for maize.
In an earlier interview, Farmers Union of Malawi president Maness Nkhata urged farmers to start making compost manure and Mbeya fertiliser to cover the shortfalls that may result from the high cost of fertiliser.
Fo rmer mini s ter o f Agriculture Sam Kawale told The Nation in August that government procured 300 000 metric tonnes last year that has been arriving in the country.
