The National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) says it will use K20 billion from a mid‑year budget top‑up to cover logistics for maize being imported from Zambia, including clearing, transport, storage and security costs as the country seeks to close a large national maize deficit. NFRA chief executive George Macheka told Nation on Sunday that the K20 billion allocation will meet the extra costs the government must shoulder after the World Bank agreed to support the grain purchase but left some logistical elements to Malawi. “We will use that money to buy fumigants, for loading and unloading, electricity and all overhead costs.
Also on security as this maize is being secured by police officers from the border side up to NFRA warehouses in Lilongwe. Macheka said NFRA previously bought 48 000 metric tonnes using K30 billion allocated in the 2025/2026 budget and released 21 000 tonnes to the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) for emergency response. As of 30 December, NFRA held about 33 000 tonnes in stock and was still receiving consignments — roughly 3 800 tonnes from Zambia and 3 000 tonnes from local purchases with an expected aggregate of about 50 000 tonnes within two weeks.
He added that a larger consignment of 200 000 tonnes from Zambia is expected to complement local purchases. Mwapata Institute executive director William Chadza said K20 billion is high but perhaps unavoidable for cross‑border procurement. He argued, however, that the funds might have had greater impact if used earlier to buy maize domestically at harvest when prices are lower or invested in agricultural production to reduce future dependence on emergency imports.
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“The main challenge is that NFRA typically enters the market late, when some produce has already been informally exported to neighbouring countries. This exposes the country to shortages and higher prices a few months later,” he said. Consumers Association of Malawi(Cama) executive director John Kapito described K20 billion as a large sum and urged transparency and efficient distribution so the maize reaches all parts of the country and helps stabilise prices during the lean season.
“We hope this maize will reach Malawians and help ensure that prices of maize are reasonable,” he said. Meanwhile, State grain marketer, the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) says it has opened some of its strategic markets with an aim of stabilising prices. Admarc acting chief executive officer Ben Botolo in an interview on Friday said the corporation will continue selling maize at K65 000 per 50-kilogramme bag.
Malawi is sitting on a maize deficit of about 600 000 metric tonnes after realising only 2.9 million metric tonnes in the 2024/2025 growing season against a requirement of 3.6 million tonnes. With 200 000 metric tonnes of maize purchased in Zambia, the expectation is that the maize deficit will reduce further.
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