By Benadetta Chiwanda Mia:
Malawi’s annual retail maize price increased by 22 percent in July 2024 to reach K792 per kilogramme (kg), from K650 per kg in July 2023.
This is contained in a monthly economic report for August by investment management and financial advisory firm, Bridgepath Capital Limited.
The report further notes a 4.5 percent maize price increase from K758 per kg in the last week of June 2024, as reported by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
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“Maize prices were highest in the Southern Region, followed by the Central Region, whilst the Northern Region had the lowest prices,” the report reads.
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Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Dixie Kampani said the ministry is implementing a strategy for supplemental irrigation and utilisation of existing irrigation schemes across the country to boost national food production and stocks.
He said the strategy focused on the utilisation of irrigation schemes under the management of smallholder farmers for maize production and other food crops.
The ministry has since disclosed that in the current irrigation season, 52,787 hectares (ha) out of 67,085 ha of developed area were targeted for irrigation.
“Currently, the area under smallholder irrigated farming is estimated to be 67,085 ha and it is expected that at least 72.2 percent of the developed irrigation area was used for maize production under supplemental irrigation with the other area being put to other crops.
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“As of August 30 2024, some 40,636 ha were under irrigated crop production representing 60.5 percent of total developed area and 70 percent of the targeted area. Out of the irrigated area, maize is covering 20,049 hectares, with an expected production of 100,245 metric tonnes of maize grain, followed by beans that cover 6,550 hectares,” Kampani said.
A snap-check at Songani Market in Zomba in the first week of September 2024, found a 50kg of maize selling at K45, 000, representing K900 per kg.
In an earlier interview, President of the Economics Association of Malawi Bertha Chikadza said increasing maize supply could lower market prices and mitigate food inflation, currently at 41.9 percent.
“This will also help reduce our maize import bill and save on foreign exchange,” Chikadza said
The country is facing a food security crisis due to El Nino-induced dry spells, affecting 44 percent of the national crop area and up to 40 percent of the population.
