Bakhresa Malawi Limited says it is struggling to source soya beans from the local market for its $100 million (about K175 billion) cooking oil refinery, six months after commissioning. During a visit by Minister of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism George Partridge on Tuesday, it was learnt that the investment located in Limbe, Blantyre with a crushing capacity of 500 metric tonnes (MT) a day, produces 110 000 litres of cooking oil per day. But the factory needs 150 000MT of soya beans from rural farmers every harvest season to sustain production, in the process assuring farmers a ready market while creating 500 direct jobs.
Besides, 5 000 more jobs were expected to be created indirectly across the broader value chain, including farming, transportation, distribution and support services. Bakhresa Malawi Limited human resource and compliance manager Richard Tchereko said under such circumstances, to sustain production of its Soyalite cooking oil will demand that they import crude soya oil soyalite brand, which defeats the entire business model of import substitution, value addition and forex generation. He said this is also not sustainable due to shortage of foreign exchange or regional supply chain disruptions.
But in the worst case scenario, Tchereko said with forex challenges lingering, production would be affected as the firm waits for the harvest season. He said the cooking oil prices, which stabilised following the commissioning and subsequent production of cooking oil from the plant, largely depends on soya beans prices and availability of the grain. “Legume production has been increasing in Malawi over a period, but we realise that the yield, especially soya beans, is on the lower side,” said Tchereko.
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Ironically, Malawi produces only about 197 000MT of soya beans, according to the 2024/25 soya bean crop estimates. The firm has been buying the commodity at an average price of K2 400 per kg while the government minimum price was pegged at K800 per kg for this season. In a seperate interview on Wednesday, Farmers Union of Malawi president Maness Nkhata said while there has been lack of strategic public investment in prioritised value chains, annually, about 7 000MT leave the country informally due to lack of structured markets, depriving the nation of vital export revenue and raw materials for domestic industry.
She said: “The potential loss of this strategic investment and a key soya bean market is a significant concern. Despite its designation as a priority, government support for the soya bean chain has been limited in recent years. “Consequently, the seed system is in disarray, prices have become prohibitive and farmers are often compelled to use less productive, recycled seed.”
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