Maize production averages 3.7m tonnes
Malawi’s maize production is stagnating, causing supply shortfalls that threaten to continue pushing prices upwards and make more people fall into poverty, a trend analysis has shown.
A look at final official crop production estimates for a five-year period spanning 2019 to 2023 indicates that annual average production is at 3.7 million metric tonnes (MT).
Except for 2021 production estimates when the country produced a record 4.6 million MT, the rest of the years had the country producing 3.7 million MT or less.
Agricultural think tank and research organisation, Mwapata Institute’s executive director William Chadza says the blanket application of fertiliser does not help in efficient production.
He said: “The soils are becoming more acidic and it does not help with the blanket use of fertiliser. Ideally, the fertiliser blending has to be soil specific but unfortunately; we don’t have the required blending capacity in the country.”
Chadza further said government is too focused on the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) that takes up a large chunk from the agriculture sector allocation, depriving critical areas like research and extension services; hence the country’s production capacity is falling short of the emerging challenges.
On the weather-related effects, he said the country has no choice but to increase irrigation farming by investing more in the infrastructure.
“Government needs to allocate more resources for irrigation. If you look at the current investment [on irrigation], most of it is from donors but the country needs to put its own resources to increase irrigation farming to the level of impact on the national production capacity,” he added.
Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said the ministry is aware of a “declining maize production”.
He said: “The ministry has lined up a number of initiatives, some of which are to be achieved in the short-term, some in the medium-term and others in the long-term to address the situation.”
The minister further said the ministry is also de-risking production investment to ensure increased production through irrigation.
Said Kawale: “There are big irrigation projects being implemented in the ministry, such as the Shire Valley Transformation, which will command a large area of land when completed.”
He said the projects are aimed at doubling or tripping production per year depending on types of crops grown.
Last month, President Lazarus Chakwera declared a State of Disaster in 23 of the country’s 28 districts due to maize production slump as a result of El-Nino-induced dry spells.
Treasury in the 2024/25 National Budget estimates that four million Malawians will need food assistance
