Pigeon peas farmers in the country can afford a smile following a rise in market prices for the crop, seen at K1,200 per kilogramme (kg) in August.
The price is 118 percent higher than the government-set farm gate price of K550.
In an interview, Nandolo Farmers Association of Malawi Chairperson Susan Chimbayo said the price movement has been perpetuated by low supply of the commodity on the market.
“This is a result of imbalances in demand and supply on the market. We have produced volumes less than the demand this year and that has made buyers scramble for the commodity, hence the increase in the price. This phenomenon was also experienced in 2016.
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“We are happy with the development because it means more earnings for us. We anticipate that this will encourage more farmers to produce the crop next year, especially those that are frustrated with prices of other crops such as soya which will affect the prices then,” Chimbayo said.
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In a separate interview, Chairperson for Civil Society Agriculture Network Helbert Chagona rated the trend as beneficial to farmers.
“There are so many things we need to do to leverage on export opportunities. The government should come in and assist in mitigating factors that affect production of the crop. The market is there and we could earn a lot of foreign exchange if production were enhanced,” Chagona said.
Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale recently indicated that pigeon peas production increased by 6.4 percent due to seed availability and market incentives.
In a recent interview, Minister of Trade Simplex Chithyola Banda said prospects of increasing Malawi’s exports are high and more export opportunities are unfolding, hence re-negotiating existing Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the government of India on pigeon peas.
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“Malawi now has unlimited access of pigeon peas for the next two years to India. It is up to us as to how much forex we can generate from that market. We are also negotiating an MoU with the Indian government to enhance exports of soya beans,” Chithyola said.
