Africa-Press – Malawi. The National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) says it will only buy maize from outside Malawi if it fails to get enough within the country—this is despite Malawi facing a big shortage of over 530,000 metric tonnes of maize this year.
NFRA Chief Executive Officer, George Macheka, told Nyasatimes that they are first buying maize from smallholder farmers and large-scale farmers, and will only turn to traders and importers if that doesn’t work.
“We believe the maize we are buying will be enough for people to eat during the lean season,” said Macheka. “The rest of the maize shortage will be handled by companies that use maize to make their products.”
But agriculture expert, Dr. Kingdom Kwapata, is worried. He says this plan may take food away from poor people in villages.
“This is not solving the real hunger problem,” said Dr. Kwapata. “The maize will just be moved from the villages into storage, and the same villagers may not have enough food to eat.”
This year, Parliament gave K60 billion to NFRA to buy maize. But the agency says that money may not be enough, and it is looking for more funds to buy more maize.
Many Malawians are now worried: if local maize runs out and imports delay, will the country have enough food for everyone?
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