Maize prices on the retail market are varying significantly across the country, with a 50-kilogramme (kg) bag fetching as little as K35,000 in some districts while going at as high as K65,000 in other parts.
At the state grain trader, the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc), the commodity is also selling at K65,000 a 50kg bag. Spot checks by Business Time show that in Dowa, a 50kg bag is selling at K35,000, while in Zomba Jali, it is going for K45,000.
In Lilongwe and Mzuzu, the commodity is fetching K55,000, just like at Thondwe in Zomba.
In Mchinji and Blantyre, buyers are parting with K60,000 for the same quantity, while in Thyolo, prices have hit K65,000.
The spot checks reveal that the commodity is now selling at an average price of K55,000 representing a 45 percent drop from the K100,000 it was fetching at the same time last year.
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Chief Executive Officer of the African Institute for Corporate Citizenship Driana Lwanda attributed the price disparities to proximity to production areas and the cost of transporting the commodity to consuming markets.
“We have more producers in Mchinji, Lilongwe and Dowa, making the prices lower than in Blantyre and Thyolo where the commodity needs to be transported. The cost of transport and handling adds to the pricing to ensure traders are also making returns,” Lwanda said.
She added that Admarc was operating on a cost recovery model to avoid recording losses.
Lwanda, however, expressed optimism that prices would ease as the harvest season approaches, projecting that a 50kg bag could drop to as low as K35,000 as farmers begin offloading freshly harvested maize onto the market.
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“There will be more supply and less demand, pushing prices further down. Smallholder farmers often sell immediately to meet cash needs, which reduces demand and increases supply, pushing prices even further downward,” she said.
She added that interventions by Admarc and the National Food Reserve Agency would further help stabilise prices.
Agriculture policy expert Leonard Chimwaza said the price disparities were driven by varying levels of supply and the availability of alternative food crops such as green maize, pumpkins, and cassava in different areas, with city markets generally recording higher prices than rural communities.
On Mchinji specifically, Chimwaza flagged the influence of cross-border trade.
“It has been alleged that a 50kg bag of maize was fetching around K80,000 after crossing through informal channels into neighboring markets, effectively pulling local supply away from domestic consumers and pushing prices up,” Chimwaza said.
Maize is Malawi’s staple crop. The government has expressed optimism that prices of the commodity are expected to fall sharply to below K20,000 a 50kg bag by August this year.
