Malawi: Food Security Update, Sept 2008

The country remains generally food secure, as households continue to depend on own–produced food from last season's harvest. Households that did not produce enough food this season, however, are currently moderately food insecure or at risk of food insecurity, given that they must rely on the markets at a time of high maize prices this season. This is particularly the case in many parts of the southern region, where some areas experienced crop production failure due to unfavorable weather conditions (Figure 1).

Most households are busy preparing their fields in preparation for the 2008/09 agricultural season. The season starts in October and ends in March, beginning in the south and progressing northward, with land preparation following this progression as well. To help boost agricultural production and improve food security, the government's seeds and fertilizer inputs subsidy program is currently underway and on–target to arrive prior to the planting rains in early November.

In contrast to previous months, a majority of local markets recorded a decline in maize prices in September. The decline is partly attributed to the government's decision to fix a maximum maize selling price of MK52/kg. At the same time, this decline does not reflect the seasonal pattern, when maize prices normally begin rising as households exhaust their supplies and market demand increases with the approaching hunger season (December to February).

The volume of informal cross–border trade in maize dropped significantly in the past month, from 8,540 MT in August to 2,185 MT in September, or about 67 percent. The government's ban on the large–scale, private trade of maize, as well as the seasonal decline in tradable stocks in source countries, are likely factors behind this decrease.