By Isaac Salima:
National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) has bowed down to demand to increase the price at which it is buying maize on the market, The Daily Times has learned.
The agency has been purchasing maize at K550 per kilogramme (kg) while most vendors are buying the staple grain at around K750 per kg.
The institution’s acting chief executive officer David Loga said, after observing trends on the market, the NFRA board of directors met to discuss the issue.
“There is an ongoing evaluation of what is going on [on] the market. So, soon, we will announce what further adjustments we will be making. Our board met some two weeks ago and made some recommendations to the Ministry of Agriculture. I cannot pre-empt [things in relation to] the proposal but, once the recommendations have been approved, we will be able to inform you,” Loga said.
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Prices being offered by NFRA are in sharp contrast to the situation on the market.
Currently, a 50kg bag of maize is selling at around K40,000 while NFRA has been purchasing the same at K27,500, raising doubts on the agency’s ability to withstand competition from vendors.
Loga further said maize is still available for purchase but the challenge could be the prices they have been offering.
He said they targeted to buy at least 22,000 metric tonnes (mt) of maize from the K12 billion allocated in the national budget.
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“However, we received K6 billion with which we targeted to buy 11,000mt of maize but we have bought 9,000mt of maize and we are continuing to buy.
“Last week, we received another K5 billion from government. We are also purchasing 21,000mt using funds from the World Bank. This one is an open tender, where we will start receiving the maize from five depots we have established in the country,” Loga said.
Farmers Union of Malawi President Maness Nkhata described NFRA’s move as a good development.
“We hope that prices that NFRA will set up will be competitive on the market. We encourage NFRA to have maize production contracts with farmers in order to have a guaranteed supply of maize. We, as Fum, are available to discuss this further with NFRA,” Nkhata said.
However, Civil Society Agriculture Network Chairperson Herbert Chagona blamed NFRA for taking long to make such a decision.
“And we have some reservations with the pace at which they are doing this. How much longer can making a decision to offer competitive prices on the market take? This begs the question of whether the State agency operates in the best interest of the local farmer,” Chagona said.
Loga was over the weekend quoted as saying the institution has 55,000mt of maize in its strategic grain reserves, raising concerns on food availability in the country, which is currently experiencing low maize output.
Third-round crop estimates which the Ministry of Agriculture published last week show that Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation has 15,960mt in stock, bringing the total to 70,950mt.
The estimates further indicate that maize production has decreased to about 3.6 million mt this year.
An annual food security assessment report for the months of June and mid-July this year shows that about 4.4 million people are at risk of facing hunger.
