MAIZE PRICE 104% HIGHER

A maize market report by International Food Policy Research Institute, has shown that Malawi’s maize pric­es in July 2023 were 104 percent higher than during the corresponding period last year.

The report further shows that Malawians are paying the highest price for the staple food as compared to other countries such as Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Mozambique in the Southern African region.

According to the report, maize prices jumped by 27 percent from K512 per kilo­gramme (kg) in June to K650 per kg in July, the steepest monthly increase this year.

“Despite the government’s directives on clearance on maize, this in­crease may be due to the fact that while most traders remained unaware of this development, those who were aware still incurred additional expenses in­volved in crossing the bor­der with maize from Zam­bia.

It adds that between late June and late July, Chir­inga Market in Phalombe District experienced the highest increase in weekly average maize retail pric­es.

“This can be attributed to the scarcity of maize in the area, coupled with high demand.

“Conversely, the North­ern Region experienced the smallest growth in prices (and even a small decline in Karonga), thanks to har­vest being only recently completed there,” the re­port says.

The report says Mo­zambique has consistently offered the lowest pric­es compared to Malawi’s neighbouring countries, making it the preferred option to source maize for most traders in Malawi’s.

“Moreover, due to the higher maize prices in the Central Region of Mala­wi compared to Zambia, some Zambian maize trad­ers residing near the border have also favoured Malawi as their selling market of choice,” the report says.

According to Ifpri, re­tail prices of maize in se­lected markets in Malawi remained the highest in the region at the official ex­change rate of K1,060 to the United States Dollar.

Sam Kawale

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Sam Kawale has said the government is set to start selling maize through the Agricultural Develop­ment and Marketing Cor­poration.

Kawale, however, kept a tight lid on the price at which the State-owned grain marketer will make the commodity available to the market.

“Yes, we are targeting cyclone-hit areas and we said we will start Thursday [today]. As we speak, the min­istry, through Admarc, is work­ing on logistics, transport and personnel to be ready.

“We might not do all mar­kets in one day but we will start this week. Keep in mind that we also work hand-in-hand with the Treasury for resources but the two ministries [Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Finance] are working together. The selling price will be an­nounced very soon kwale said.

But Kawale could neither confirm nor deny the reports, saying: “We will communi­cate”.