Maize traders rue export ban
Grain Traders Association of Malawi has faulted the premature maize export ban, saying it has left them with no market as Admarc is not buying the commodity due to lack of funds.
Ministry of Trade and Industry has issued an export ban, a month after it started issuing 2020/21 maize export licences for the export of 500 000 metric tonnes (MT) of maize.
In an interview on Monday, Grain Traders Association of Malawi president Grace Mhango said the traded volumes have been low since last year as there has not been a reliable market for maize apart from the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) which run out of money by the end of November last year.
“Worse still we have been slammed with an export ban at a time no one is able to buy locally. Of course, the reasoning is fair as it is due to erratic rains which could lead to reduced maize output,” she said.
Mhango said traders have not benefited from the maize export window, observing that the normal export demand for the country’s maize is between January and April, the time government usually imposes export bans.
She said this is “a big mockery to commercial farming in Malawi”.
Meanwhile, figures from the association show that their maize stock position has declined by 88 percent from 53 000MT in November 2021 to 6 300 tonnes as of last week, an indication that traders could be hoarding maize in anticipation of better prices.
Ministry of Agriculture figures show that as of December 31 2021, the country had a total supply of 1.6 million MT of maize, and it is with farmers, private traders, National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) and Admarc while the total maize requirement for January to March 2022 was projected at 861 868MT.
NFRA and Admarc stocks stood at 265 253MT during the review period.
In an interview, Ministry of Agriculture spokesperson Gracian Lungu said the ban is temporary and they are monitoring the situation on the ground.
He said: “Once we see that this year’s farming season promises to be a good one, the ban will be lifted.”
Ministry of Trade and Industry spokesperson Mayeso Msokera said they have thus far issued maize export permits for about 14 000MT as most exporters are not keen to export in anticipation of better prices on the local market.
“We expect traders to export the maize within three months from the date of issue of the licence. This price certainty is important for farmers as they get incentivised to grow the maize again next season,” he said.
In his State of the Nation Address last Thursday, President Lazarus Chakwera indicated that despite the country being food secure at national level, there will be some isolated hotspots of food insufficiency in various
districts, including Chikwawa, Nsanje, Mangochi, Zomba, Lilongwe, Nkhotakota, Karonga, and Nkhata Bay.
The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee 2021 Annual Assessment projected that over 1.6 million people will be food insecure during the 2021/2022 consumption year.
