Maize prices have started rising two months after a harvest-induced drop, raising projections of huge price rises in the absence of tangible supply interventions, it has emerged.
The latest International Food Policy Research Institute (Ifpri) study has confirmed this at a time the 2025 Global Report on Food Crises indicated that at least 6.8 million people, or a third of the country’s population, are already struggling to meet their basic needs, especially food.
Among others, the Ifpri robserved the easing of maize prices ended in the third week of May as the prices jumped in fourth week of the month from K928 per kilogramme (kg) or K46 400 per 50kg bag to K933 per kg or K46 650, marking this season as one of the shortest in terms of maize price deceleration.
Reads the report in part: “It is likely that maize prices reached their seasonal minimum in the third week of the month at K928 per kg on average and that they will start rising in the coming months.
“This is 57 percent higher than last year when maize prices bottomed out at K592 per kg, but still far below the government prescribed minimum farm-gate price of K1 050 per kg.”
The situation creates fear that if timely interventions are not employed to ensure steady supply, the staple grain price could reach unaffordable levels in the coming months and affect millions of people who rely on maize as their staple food.
In an interview on Wednesday, Centre for Social Concern economic governance officer Agnes Nyirongo warned that considering that maize production is already projected to be below the 3.5 million metric tonnes (MT) national requirement, there is urgent need to boost supply interventions such as winter cropping and strengthening Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) role as a market stabiliser.
She said: “Rising maize prices mean that families are forced to spend a greater proportion of their incomes on food often at the expense of education, healthcare and other basic needs.
“Children and the elderly are particularly at risk during price surges as malnutrition and undernourishment tend to spike when access to staple food diminishes.”
Consumers Association of Malawi executive director John Kapito, in an interview on Wednesday, urged government to ban maize exports, considering that the country already has a deficit while strengthening Admarc to play its price stabilisation role.
“Government must control and ban all maize exports and sensitise farmers and consumers to the dangers of careless selling and use of maize as there is a serious danger that these prices will sharply increase more than last year,” he said.
On her part, Ministry of Agriculture director of crop development Elida Kazira said the ministry has gone flat out to enhance irrigation farming so that by September this year, people should harvest maize.
“The main activity the ministry is doing is to encourage as many farmers as possible to go into irrigation farming,” she said, adding that they are projected to produce at least 250 000MT of maize per cycle from 50 000 hectares in three cycles that will be committed to irrigation farming to deal with the situation.
