National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) will be buying 50 000 metric tonnes (MT) of maize through Bid Volume Only (BVO) system on the Agriculture Commodity Exchange for Africa (ACE) and Auction Holdings Commodities Exchange (AHCX).
NFRA has been tasked by government to buy enough maize to mitigate the looming hunger.
BVO is a computerised system of purchasing commodities, where sellers place their bids as buyers compete to buy for the least price on offer.
NFRA chief executive officer (CEO) Nasinuku Saukira told Business News during a recent BVO session that the organisation had taken the approach as it was ‘a more transparent way of buying maize’.
Said Saukira: “We expect some $15 million [K6.7 billion from the World Bank] for the purchase of maize. We want to acquire about 50 000 metric tonnes through the Agriculture Commodity Exchange for Africa [ACE] and Auction Holdings Commodity Exchange (AHCX).”
Nasinuko said ACE will be holding BVOs every Tuesday for the next three months to allow NFRA reach the targeted tonnage.
ACE chief executive officer, Kristian Moller hailed NFRA for the initiative, saying it is a good opportunity for smallholder farmers in Malawi.
