Government has adjusted the buying price of maize from K 12,500 to K 15, 500 to take away the hoarding of maize stock.
According to a Press Statement issued on Wednesday, Principal Secretary (PS) for Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Gray Nyandule-Phiri said the maize buying period has been extended to February 29, 2020.
“Government has extended the maize buying period to February 29, 2020 and further revise the buying price from the previous K250.00 per kilogramme to K310.00 per kilogramme.
“This is in a bid to respond to maize shortage in some parts of the country which experienced production deficit in the 2018/19 season,” he said.
Nyandule-Phiri said that Government was convinced that the country has considerable stocks of maize being held by private entities including individual traders, cooperatives, associations as well as companies.
“The hoarding of maize stocks has resulted in some parts of the country falling into the food insecurity trap due to declining supply which has pushed retail prices up, making the commodity unaffordable to the majority of consumers,” he added.
The PS urged all traders, cooperatives and companies that are still keeping maize to avail their stocks at any ADMARC markets or depots across the country within the stipulated period.
In October 2019, Malawi Vulnerability Assessment committed (MVAC) report indicated that about of 1,062,674 Malawians out of the total estimated rural population of 14,747,257 will not be able to meet their annual food requirement during the 2019/20 consumption period.
Secretary to the Treasury Cliff Chiunda said that the figures meant that seven per cent of total country’s rural population would be in dire need of food.
Among other responses to address the issues, Chiunda said that the National Food Reserve Agency was in the process of procuring maize to increase their stocks to be able to manage any eventualities.
ADMARC was procuring maize from the smallholder farmers to ensure that the commodity is available in all its selling points.
