Maize shortage worries legislators

Members of Parliament (MPs) under Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture have asked government to release maize to the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) to help  Malawians struggling to access the staple grain.

In an interview yesterday, Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture chairperson Sameer Suleman expressed worry that some Admarc depots have no maize, a situation that forces people to buy from vendors.

The committee’s call comes at a time Admarc indicated that it is targeting October end to complete selling maize in the first phase since its markets reopened in August this year.

Said Suleman: “We are very concerned because this is the time people need the maize the most and government is playing games with a very crucial commodity. Why should we keep the maize in the silos when people need it out there?

“Government needs to wake up and be serious on this. People need maize. Reports are coming in that people are now dying of hunger. People are eating roots and yet we are keeping maize and failing to make it available to the people.”

In a separate interview with The Nation on Sunday, Admarc general manager Daniel Makata said the corporation was working on distributing maize in some of the markets that had no maize.

He said as of Sunday, the State produce trader had remained with only 4 000 metric tonnes [MT] of maize to be distributed to some Admarc depots across the country.

Said Makata: “You also need to understand that there is no way we can supply maize to every market every day.

“There will be some days markets that have run out of maize and we are still working on logistics to supply to those markets.”

Spot-checks in Blantyre, Mulanje, Phalombe, Mangochi and Balaka show that some Admarc markets have gone about three weeks without the staple grain. 

The situation was also similar at Phalombe, Mulanje and Balaka Admarc depots as the corporation is reported to have run out of maize last month. In Chikwawa, only a few Admarc depots such as Beleu and Mlomba had no maize while Dyeratu, Kasinthula and Ndakwera had maize.

On August 24 this year, Admarc opened its markets in some parts of the country by restricting individuals to buying a maximum of 25 kilogramme (kg) of maize. Admarc is selling maize at K600 per kg.

Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale in mid-August told Parliament that 12 640MT of maize will be sold by Admarc during the first phase, with the Southern Region getting 10 170MT, Central Region 1 320MT and the North getting1 150MT.