Regional body tips Malawi on grain trade

The Eastern African Grain Council (EAGC), a regional body working to promote structured grain trade, has highlighted the need for players in the agriculture sector to be systematic in creating stable and competitive markets for farmers to reap the most of their toil.

This was revealed on Friday ahead of the African Grain Trade Summit—a biennial international policy conference aimed at providing strategic direction for the development of grain trade and the grain sector in Africa.

The summit will take place from October 7 and 9 in Kenya and delegates will discuss the future of grain trade in Africa and, among other things, pose discussions on revitalising resilience in the grain value chain.

It come at a time grain trade is a major aspect in food trade in Eastern and Southern Africa, with government policies being an important factor towards creating an enabling business environment.

EAGC Trade Policy and Advocacy Manager Kimwaga Mhando emphasised the importance of the conference to Malawi’s local farmers.

“We want to see how we can improve market access across the region. That has been one of the pressing issues for farmers, especially in Malawi, given the current policy environment,” Mhando said.

The summit promises to capacitate international grain industry players across and beyond the continent.

EAGC Executive Director Gerald Masila said Africa is becoming increasingly important in the global grain trade, as many of its countries are importing large amounts of food and grain, requiring critical discussions on how best to benefit from this.

EAGC is an organisation representing those involved in grain trade in Eastern Africa and its head office is in Nairobi, Kenya.