The ever rising maize prices in the country have put low -income earners in a tight corner as they have to balance how to bring food on the table from K50 000 monthly income.

A Business Reivew snap survey shows that a 50 kilogramme (kg) bag of maize is now selling at an average price of K30 000.

Vendors selling maize whose price has gone up substantially

Centre for Social Concern pegs the food basket of basic needs for a family of six at K209 000 monthly.

For Blantyre-based shop attendant Frank Hanisi, who earns K50 000 a month, it is a tall order.

Speaking in an interivew on Tuesday, he said: “I pay K15 000 for monthly house rentals and K35 000 is what is left to take us until the next month.

“Now with the rising maize prices, we can’t afford three meals a day, we only eat twice a day. But it is difficult because prices for the alternatives such as sweet potatoes and cassava have also gone up.”

Hanisi, married and a father of two, says they buy small packs of flour popularly known as wokomani for survival as maize is somehow expensive.

Consumers Association of Malawi executive director John Kapito agreed with the situation Hanisi is in, saying the absence of Admarc [Agricultural Development and Market Corporation] markets has created a huge gap in the maize supply chain.

He said: “Admarc becomes the stabiliser and its closure has affected prices on the market.

“We have noted the higher prices of maize during this maize lean period and this has affected many consumers who now cannot afford the current maize prices.”

Meanwhile, data collected by the International Food Policy Research Institute (Ifpri) shows that as at January 31 2023, Admarc has been selling maize in only 10 out of the 26 markets nationwide.

Maize, as part of the food component, has a huge weight at 45.2 percent in the consumer price index, which is an aggregate basket of goods and services National Statistical Office (NSO) uses in computing inflation. This means that any change in the price of maize has a direct bearing on the inflation, currently at 24.5 percent, and the wider economy.

Maize prices have been on the rise, moving from an average of K9 500 per 50 kg bag during the same period last year to about K30 000 per 50 kg bag in January this year.

Meanwhile, the year, year-on-year headline inflation rate has been on the rise, moving from 12.1 percent in January to 25.4 percent in December, according to NSO data.

Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned of an upward pressure on maize prices, which it said would likely to remain elevated until at least at the start of the next harvest in April.

In its recent country brief, FAO said this heightened pressure will worsen the food security situation, with 3.8 million people or 20 percent of the country’s population expected to face acute food security between January and March this year, according to the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report.

Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said the ministry has finalised transactions for the transportation of about 60 000MT of maize from Strategic Grain Reserves to Admarc depots across the country operating at less capacity after all 4 000 plus staff were retrenched on January 31 2023.

He said: “We are just waiting for Treasury to release funding so that we can transport the maize to the rest of Admarc depots.”

Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture chairperson Sameer Suleman said in an interview on Tuesday that Admarc has no maize, according to the report from National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA).

He said: “Government through NFRA bought all the maize that was with Admarc. After allocation of maize to Department of Disaster Management Affairs, the NFRA will only have about 2 700 metric tonnes.”

He said there is need for political will to fix the situaiton at Admarc in the shortest time.

Ministry of Agriculture data shows that although the previous season’s harvest declined by 14 percent compared to the previous year, the country harvested about 3.9 million MT of the staple crop.

The post Tough Balancing Act first appeared on The Nation Online.

The post  <strong>Tough Balancing Act</strong> appeared first on The Nation Online.