FEWS Malawi Food Security Outlook

Food security across the country has greatly improved with the arrival of the new harvest. Most households now have access to their own produced food. However, for parts of Chikwawa, Nsanje, and Balaka districts, some households continue to experience food insecurity due to poor harvests in these areas during the 2008/09 agricultural season. Local market maize prices are generally affordable for the majority of households, though prices are beginning to rise in some of the markets.

- The number of households that have depleted their own produced food will increase in the next six months. Most affected households will turn to the market for food, thereby increasing market demand for maize and exerting upward pressure on local market maize prices.

- The number of households seeking ganyu (casual labor) to obtain cash to buy food will rise in the next six months. However, excess supply of labor in the affected areas could result in a reduction in wages and consequently household incomes.

- The government has announced a producer price for maize of MK40.00/kg, compared to MK50.00/kg last season. However many farmers have already sold their maize to traders at prices lower than the recommended price and may not benefit from the announcement. Most poor households sell their maize during or soon after the harvest. The Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) and National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) have not yet begun to buy maize.