Pressure on maize mounts amid rising imports
Prices for maize and alternative food continue to rise, depriving more Malawians of access to food, Business News has established.
Spot checks conducted in produce markets across Blantyre show that maize is now fetching K40 000 per 50 kilogramme (kg) bag as at Wednesday November 8 2023.
The previous week, maize was fetching an average of K37 000.
Meanwhile, prices of potatoes, cassava and rice have also continued to escalate, averaging K2 000 per kg while a bunch of sweet potatoes is selling at a minimum of K300 but is not enough to feed a family of six.
Ripe banana, used when baking chigumu, is fetching K200 for three.
In an interview on Wednesday, Chirimba based Esnart Chawinga, a second hand-clothes seller said it is becoming “extremely” difficult to feed her four-member household.
She said: “We used to alternate between nsima, rice and sweet potatoes, but with the escalating prices, it is becoming harder.
“My income cannot afford a decent meal anymore.”
Meanwhile, Femine and Early Warning System Network (Fewsnet) data shows that in September 2023, informal maize exports decreased to 20 metric tonnes (MT), a significant drop from the 19 200 MT during the same period last year and well below the five-year average of 6 700 MT.
In contrast, informal maize imports increased substantially, surging to 135 percent above the previous year’s levels and 62 percent above the five-year average.
“These trends align with the findings of Fewsnet’s September assessment, which revealed that traders across various levels report significantly below-average access to tradable maize stocks within Malawi.
“This scarcity raises concerns about maize availability during the lean season.”
According to the data, National Food Reserve Agency reported having only 56 000 MT of maize in stock, while the Department of Disaster Management Affairs needs approximately 164 000 MT of maize to support humanitarian assistance efforts during the 2023/24 lean season.
According to Admarc, an additional 100 000 MT of maize is required for subsidized sales to stabilise prices.
Maize is an important crop to the country which as part of food component, contributes about 53.7 percent to the Consumer Price Index, an aggregate basket of goods and services for computing inflation.
Consumers Association of Malawi executive director John Kapito earlier said the lean season has come early this year and “it is scary to imagine what the situation will be like between October and February next year”.
Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary Dixie Kampani told the Parliamentary Committee on Government Sector Reforms in Lilongwe last week that Capital Hill is considering boosting stocks by importing from neighbouring countries.
