Update: The government has released K5 billion to the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) out of a K60 billion budget for maize purchases, according to Nation Online. Reacting to the allocation, Grain Traders Association of Malawi president Grace Mijiga-Mhango stated that while the agency's market entry introduces needed competition, the K5 billion is insufficient to buy enough maize. She urged ADMARC to quickly mobilise additional resources to ensure farmers are not exploited by private buyers offering low prices.
In an effort to improve food security, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and its partners are scaling up post-harvest technologies for smallholder farmers, Nyasa Times reports. During a recent field visit to the Thawale Extension Planning Area in Lilongwe, AGRA Country Director Eluphy Nyirenda detailed the Regain Programme, which promotes hermetic storage bags, shellers, threshers, and tarpaulins. Nyirenda noted that Malawian smallholders currently lose up to 30 percent of their crop yields to inadequate drying methods and poor storage facilities.
Furthermore, the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) is facing financial hurdles in establishing a proposed K57 billion local fertiliser plant, Nation Online reports. Although the university has secured land for the project at its Bunda Campus, efforts to find a strategic partner to bridge the funding gap are ongoing. Reserve Bank of Malawi spokesperson Boston Maliketi Banda confirmed that the central bank had facilitated early engagements between LUANAR and financial institutions, but the industrial plant has yet to secure the required capital.