Some traders have started exporting the staple grain despite Malawi facing another maize deficit as farmers continue to sell at below recommended prices, a recent market research has shown.
The report, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute shows that maize exports, though sporadic, were registered in Chikwawa, Mulanje, Phalombe, Machinga, Mangochi and Chitipa.
Reads the report in part: “In contrast to the previous month when maize was consistently flowing into Malawi from all directions, May saw the emergence of maize export activity in a few southern districts.
“Export margins [the difference between the export parity and the domestic retail price] remained considerably smaller than import margins, which reflect the price gap between domestic markets and import parity prices.”
Malawi is facing another maize deficit with data showing that 2 962 620 metric tonnes (MT) of the staple grain will be harvested against a national requirement of 3.5 million MT, according to government data.
The exports are also happening at a time farmers continue to sell the commodity at below the K1 050 per kg or K52 000 per 50 kg bag recommended prices, with some selling at as low as K707 per kg or K35 350 per 50 kg bag.
In an interview on Wednesday, Grain Traders Association of Malawi president Grace Mijiga Mhango said she is aware of the informal exports by some traders, which she said is mainly due to the absence of local markets as both NFRA and Admarc Limited have not started buying yet.
She said: “The industry is also not buying apart from a few who are buying below farm gate prices. The highest one can sell maize is K900 per kg in the main cities.
“The other reason why informal exports are attractive is it’s a means for making dollars. With a rate of K4 000-plus to a dollar, our maize is the cheapest in the region, selling at almost $176 per tonne against an average of $250.”
Mhango said the association has been proposing to government on how to do away with this malpractice by engaging the formal traders to aggregate maize into either Admarc Limited or NFRA idle storage space.
“If only we can push our reserves to between 300 000 to 500 000 metric tonnes, that’s the only way we can close the maize deficit In Malawi. These tonnages cannot be achieved using government resources only.
“But as long as our public storages are empty maize shortage is here to stay.”
Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale referred this reporter to his counterpart, Minister of Trade and Industry, who was yet to respond to our questionnaire.
Between April and now, Admarc Limited says it has purchased 3 100MT of maize against a targeted quantity of 20 000MT.
In total, the State produce trader Admarc is targeting to purchase 70 000MT in the 2025 harvesting season.
As part of food, maize contributes about 53.7 percent of the consumer price index, a basket for computing inflation.
