Excitement is in the air for dairy farmers in the country who have hailed 2025 farmgate price of K800 per litre of milk and an import ban on the product as good for the local industry.
In an interview yesterday, Shire Highlands Milk Producers Association (SHMPA) chairperson Saini Kapito said dairy farmers in the country have the potential to meet the demand for milk and cover the gap created by the ban on milk imports.
He attributed the low milk production on the local market to low prices that did not incentivise the farmers, saying the product was being bought at K485 per litre and the processors recently increased to K500 though farmers were yet to start benefiting from that.
Said Kapito: “The association has over 14 000 farmers and produces 165 000 litres per day. The farmgate price will enable farmers to properly feed the cows so that they produce more milk.”
In a separate interview, Malawi Dairy Industries (MDI) director Bob Dzombe said processors will respect the farmgate price, but it was on the higher side.
He said the price of milk was set at K500 so that people can afford it and its products.
“What will happen is that processors will also increase the prices and it is the consumer who will have to pay more,” said Dzombe.
However, he was pessimistic on local farmers’ capacity to meet demand, adding that MDI has the capacity to process up to 400 000 litres of milk per month but farmers are only able to supply 100 000 litres.
Apart from milk, the other farmgate prices that government announced were for maize which has been pegged at K1 050 per kilogramme (kg) from K650 last year, rice is at K1 200 per kg from K650, pure beans at K2 500 per kg up from K1 200, mixed beans at K1500 per kg from K900, soya bean at K1 200 per kg from K800, and shelled groundnuts at K2 500 per kg from K1200.
Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said the farmgate prices were with immediate effect, and that government will enforce all the prices set.
