It might sound clichéd that desperate situations call for desperate measures, but the pervading hunger has unfolded a disturbing scenario of some vulnerable households consuming maize seed.
The vulnerable people are being forced to wash the treatment chemicals that give seed colours of green or pink before they process it into flour.
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Mary Kazembe from Manje Township in Blantyre knows the maize seed may not be fit for consumption, but desperation leaves her with no choice.
In an interview last week, she said: “The little money I get from piecework, I buy a kilogramme just for a day. With K1 000, I am guaranteed to buy the seed.”
Kazembe said she has never experienced unusual symptoms from consuming the maize seeds since last month.
She has a specific vendor she buys this from at a discount.
Nation on Sunday’s findings have established that most vulnerable households, who are part of the estimated 5.7 million population affected by the hunger situation, are purchasing the maize seed from local vendors in markets within their communities.
Some are beneficiaries of the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) who received their inputs late after many had already planted.
Yet others are consuming maize seed they are receiving from non-governmental organisations orchestrating replants, especially those whose crops failed to thriveamid heatwaves late last year.
During a visit to Manje Township on a market day, we could not differentiate between cleaned maize seed and ordinary maize
But shop owners and other traders assured us maize seeds were available.
A vendor who opted for anonymity confirmed his maize was mixed with maize seeds.
“Some of our clients can tell, others don’t know,” he said
But when asked about their source of the maize seeds, he refused to say.
He, however, said the situation is rampant in the area and is slowly being normalised.
We established similar patterns in several markets in Ndirande and Mbayani townships, Thyolo District and Mpingu in the outskirts of Lilongwe.
A fortnight ago, 78-year-old Enala Mandala from Thyolo District told us how upon being given farm inputs by a certain organisation, she opted to clean the maize seed and process it into flour.
She claimed to have gone for weeks without a proper meal.
Mandala said: “I don’t see any reason to plant when I can simply wash it and take it to the maize mill.”
We also met an AIP beneficiary from the same district who said they cannot plant maize this time in the farming season; hence, decided to process the maize seed into flour.
Malawi Bureau of Standards spokesperson Monica Khombe was yet to respond to our questionnaire as we went to press yesterday.
But information published on www.oneacrefund.org shows that maize seeds are treated with insecticides and fungicides before being dyed with a bright colour to prevent accidental ingestion.
According to sciencedirect.com, acute health effects of ingestion and exposure to insecticides and fungicides include skin irritation, rashes, blisters and burning, eye irritation, headaches, dizziness, nausea and diarrhoea.
Chronic health effects include cancer, neurological disorders, birth defects, reproductive harm, immunotoxicity and endocrine disruption.
But while a public health expert says the direct health consequences are not clear, the situation shows the level of desperation for most vulnerable households as they strive to source food and stay alive.
In a telephone interview last week, epidemiologist and professor of public health at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences Adamson Muula described the situation as unusual.
He said the maize seed was never meant for human consumption, but allayed the possibility of severe harmful effects, considering that people touch it with bare hands when planting.
“But that does not mean it was meant for human consumption. One could think of residual chemicals with varying effects,” he said.
In a separate written response last week, consumer rights activist John Kapito, described the situation as pathetic.
He said the situation shows how the dire state of affairs is slowly transitioning and exposing the most vulnerable households to health hazards.
“The current situation has created many challenges and we have no choice, but to grab anything in the form of food and some of the foods collected are dangerous to public health like the maize seed which contains chemicals,” said Kapito.
He said the situation needs a proactive approach from relevant stakeholders to ensure awareness on the dangers of consuming such maize while at the same time, those found selling should be taken to task.
Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale told The Nation last week that with the hunger situation expected to persist, government will remain committed to building a resilient food system through integrated risk management, climate-smart agriculture and community empowerment.
