The government, through the Ministry of Trade, has said the ban on maize exports remains in force.
The ban was imposed in November last year.
The restriction was introduced as part of efforts to safeguard national food security and maintain price stability.
Ministry spokesperson Patrick Botha told this publication Monday that those taking maize to other countries were doing so illegally.
Botha said the ministry was awaiting the latest food balance sheet from the Ministry of Agriculture, which would guide any review of the export restriction.
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He said maize remained a strategic commodity that was key to national food security and price stability.
Botha said the government had put in place several mechanisms to monitor maize trading activities and minimise speculative buying, artificial shortages and price increases.
He cited the National Committee on Strategic Grain Reserves as one of the key institutions in providing oversight and policy coordination on food security matters, particularly the management of strategic food stocks.
“The committee reviews market conditions and may recommend interventions aimed at stabilising grain availability and prices during periods of market disruption. Such interventions help reduce the risk of panic buying, excessive stock accumulation and speculative behaviour,” he said.
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Botha further said the Ministry of Agriculture monitors maize trading activities in collaboration with other government agencies and local authorities, including the Competition and Fair Trading Commission, to assess market conditions and inform policy responses.
“Admarc [Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation] participates in the maize market through the purchase and sale of maize to support food availability and help stabilise prices, particularly during lean periods. These market operations help mitigate excessive price increases and reduce opportunities for market distortions,” he said.
The position by the ministry comes at a time when Admarc has entered the market to start buying maize.
Meanwhile, agriculture policy analyst Leonard Chimwaza has agreed that the ban should be intact for now, considering that people in other areas are still harvesting.
Chimwaza said there is also a high likelihood of a strong to El Niño, which could negatively affect Malawi’s food security.
“However, what is tricky now is the failure by the Ministry of Agriculture to release the third round of crop estimates. If they released the figures, we would have a practical outlook on whether the ban should be lifted or not,” he said.
Last year, the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee assessed that about four million people were at risk of hunger in the 2025-26 consumption period, representing 22 percent of the country’s projected population of 18.5 million.
The government has set the minimum maize price at K900 per kilogramme, translating to K45,000 per 50-kilogramme bag, down from last season’s K1,050 per kilogramme, or K52,500 per bag.
However, a recent report by the International Food Policy Research Institute indicates that maize is being sold below the recommended farm-gate price in some areas, with prices as low as K600 per kilogramme.
