Markets key in maize exports
National Association of Smallholder Farmers in Malawi (Nasfam) has urged government to continue sourcing external maize markets to enable farmers to realise return on investment amid rising fertiliser prices on the global and local markets.
Nasfam chief executive officer Betty Chinyamunyamu said this last week when a business delegation from South Sudan visited Nasfam processing factories in Lilongwe to appreciate production standards and capacity.
The country has been experiencing high cost of fertiliser prices, which majority of ordinary farmers cannot afford while commercial farmers may not get better returns given low domestic maize market prices.
Chinyamunyamu said the cost of producing maize will likely go up due to the increase in fertiliser prices.
She said: “It is, therefore, important for maize farmers to find more rewarding markets than has been the case previously. Nasfam has adequate capacity both in terms of volumes and quality.
“We have capacity to process adequate maize flour and also to process to the quality specifications required in South Sudan. Nasfam also has an in-house laboratory and that gives us capabilities to test every batch that is produced.”
She said the visiting delegation from South Sudan were pleased with Nasfam policy processes, particularly the fact that the quality processes start right in the field where Nasfam members are trained on quality issues and is followed through to processing and distribution.
Trade experts believe that a steady and lucrative maize market has the potential to motivate farmers, traders and processors to invest more to meet the demand for external markets.
They argue that there has been less investment in maize due to lack of lucrative markets.
So far, the Malawi Government has secured a $129 million (K106 billion) ma
rket for agriculture products to South Sudan, which commercial farmers and traders recognise as a milestone in encouraging production.
Ministry of Trade and Industry Principal Secretary for small and medium enterprises, Francis Zhuwao, admitted that the country’s production capacity remains too low to meet current South Sudan export market, as such, he called for increased production of the highly demanded commodities.
He said: “We have the capacity but not optimal capacity. We have about 16 millers in the country and what is needed is to increase their capacity. We may not reach that capacity immediately but in the medium to long term,” he said.
Export Development Fund acting managing director Frederick Chanza said Malawi is taking advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to seize regional export markets.
AfCFTA is a market of 1.2 billion customers with an estimated $3 trillion in combined gross domestic products and has potential to increase intra-African trade by over 50 percent. He said currently Malawi is exporting about eight tonnes of maize flour annually to South Sudan instead of the monthly demanded 14 tonnes.
