Malawi suspends maize export to Zimbabwe

Malawi has suspended exporting of grains to Zimbabwe in an effort to expand her capacity regarding strategic grain reserves from the current 60, 000 metric tones to 200, 000. Officials say this is the result of sharp increase of transportation costs linked to the rise of oil prices.

Officials however say, the move has been agreed upon by both parties Malawi and Zimbabwe.

It is said Malawi would resume the supplies March next year to satisfy a contract of 400, 000 metric tones the two countries signed last year.

Malawi is expanding its grain reserves, as a resolve to permanently deal away with unforeseen food shortages.

This year Malawi has registered a third consecutive bumper harvest under President Bingu wa Mutharika, coming from a backdrop of perennial food shortages before 2004 when he assumed office.

Speaking during in Blantyre Chief Executive of National Reserve Agency (NFRA) Edward Sawerengera, said government has deferred Zimbabwe export to March next year and that this year, they would concentrate on the project to expand reserve capacity from 60, 000 to 200, 0000.

“There will be no Zimbabwe export this, we have deferred it to next year March, the advantage is that there were clauses in the contract that we can suspend when we get preoccupied with other activities,” he said.

“This arrangement has been agreed upon and our counterparts in Harare are aware this,” he said.

Sawerengera further said: “The project to increase the reserves to 200,000 would ensure us to keep grain adequate to feed the country’s 12 million people the whole year, currently we can only feed the country for three months in critical situation,” he said.

He said his organization which is a government arm, does not wait for a crisis, that is why, it is announcing plans to expand capacity.

A number of international relief organizations including World Food Programme and European Union rely on NFRA’s Strategic Grain Reserve on grain supplies for their projects.

“We are stocking humanitarian grain reserves for World Food and European Union projects, the conditions remain the same that we advise them against grain type of Genetic Modified Organism (GMO),” he said.

Sawerengera said Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) and private traders are the ones that supply the grain to the reserves.

General Manager for Admarc, Charles Matabwa said they are expected to open their grain markets in October when the official buying season closes and when there are signs of grain shortage on the market.

“Currently we are centralized, only selling to major public institutions like public schools, prisons, hospitals etc,” he said.

He said they have revised a system on how institutions can acquire grain from them in large quantities, say they require them to apply, under go scrutiny before their tenders are accepted.