Ministry of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism says the continued restrictions on maize exports are necessary to protect national food security despite demands by Mega Farmers Union of Malawi to lift the restrictions.
The union on Wednesday last week gave government seven days to remove restrictions on cross-border trade in farm produce because domestic markets have left farmers struggling to sell their maize and tobacco.
In an interview on Friday, Ministry of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism spokesperson Patrick Botha said there are currently no export restrictions on agricultural produce except maize.
“Maize is a strategic grain and decisions on export restrictions are guided by evidence and recommendations from the Ministry of Agriculture based on the country’s food security situation,” he said.
Botha said that although the ministry implements export restrictions under the Control of Goods Act, decisions to impose, maintain or lift restrictions on maize are based on recommendations from the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development.
“Once authorities determine that food security conditions permit exports, the ministry would have no objection to lifting the restrictions,” he said.
Botha said export restrictions were intended only as temporary measures to safeguard food security and should not be viewed as efforts to permanently limit farmers’ access to markets.
During a press conference in Mzuzu, the union’s president Vasco Mandhlopa said farmers had lost access to better-paying regional markets because of export restrictions, leaving maize and tobacco unsold.
He said: “Farmers are asking for the lifting of the ban on farm produce because they want markets for produce they are just keeping in their homes. They are asking the President and the Minister of Agriculture to open up markets in Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia and Kenya.”
The union also called for Minister of Agriculture Roza Mbilizi to resign, reduce fertiliser prices to K70 000 per bag and write off Mega Farm loans.
Malawi Government imposed the maize export ban last November to safeguard national food security, maintain price stability and protect the livelihoods of Malawians who depend on maize as their staple food.
The decision followed a Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report that projected about four million people would face hunger during the 2025/26 consumption year.
