By Innocent Kalikokha:
President Lazarus Chakwera has assured people that the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) will start supplying maize in all its deports this week.
He said this at Sorgin in Nsanje District, where he conducted a whistle stop tour.
Chakwera added that people that have been affected by hunger would get relief food.
“I have directed the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) to continue distributing food to those who cannot afford to buy maize from Admarc,” he said.
However, Member of Parliament for the area, Gladys Ganda, alleged that there was favouritism in the relief item distribution exercise.
While in the Shire Valley, Chakwera toured A.R Issa Cattle Ranch at Ngabu in Chikwawa and also launched Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (Marep) phase 9 in Nguluwe Village, Traditional Authority Mbenje, in Nsanje District.
The President also interacted with education officials and Shire Valley businesspeople.
Last week, Agriculture Minister Sam Kawale said they were working on modalities to have the country’s grain trader opened for Malawians.
The announcement came as maize prices continue to sour on the market.
The minister told Times Radio’s ‘Kulinji’ programme that they had finalised working on modalities such as prices for the product.
“Last week [two weeks ago], we concluded [the activities] with a meeting that focused on setting up the prices [and other things]. Now we will be announcing the prices and, hopefully, next [this] week the markets will be opening. I will not say the exact day but next [this] week the markets will be opened,” he said.
Kawale further said the government had moved swiftly to address the hunger situation in the country by embarking on relief food exercises to vulnerable populations across the country.
“Dodma is already on the ground doing the food distribution exercise. We have already announced the schedule for the maize distribution exercise, which was supposed to start in October but we have already started it because the situation is dire on the ground,” he said.
Meanwhile, agriculture policy expert Leonnard Chimwaza has implored the government to be proactive in addressing issues related to hunger.
“The food situation assessment already showed a dim light. It meant that demand for maize will be high. We were not supposed to schedule our food distribution exercise for September or October, let alone opening Admarc markets late,” Chimwaza said.
He also called on the authorities to open more Admarc markets so that people could access the staple food.
On Tuesday last week, some lawmakers complained that some undeserving Malawians were benefitting from the food distribution initiative that was targeting people who have been affected by hunger.
For instance, Member of Parliament for Machinga North East, Ajilu Kalitendere, said in his area, food items were at one time received on behalf of an elderly woman who had been dead for two years.
“We are concerned with the way this food distribution [exercise] is being handled. The people who are supposed to receive these items are not benefitting. Even though we hear that the government has sent food to an area, we still find that those who were most affected by the disasters are not on the list,” Kalitendere said.
On Monday last week, Machinga Likwenu lawmaker Bright Msaka reported in Parliament that people in his area were facing severe hunger and that they were resorting to eating buffalo beans, locally known as chitedze.
Malawi is expected to face food insecurity in 2024, with the situation worsening during the lean season from October 2024 to March 2025.
Around 4.2 million people, or 20 percent of the population, are expected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity.
Admarc starts selling maize when the moisture content is at recommended levels.
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