Maize prices in Malawi have dropped significantly during President Peter Mutharika's first year back in office, according to reports from Nyasa Times on October 4. A standard bag of the staple grain is currently selling for around K42,000, down from more than K80,000 last year. Independent assessments of the administration's economic performance credit market interventions and a drop in national inflation to 20 percent for providing early macroeconomic stability. However, experts caution that food security is still vulnerable as the lean season approaches.
In the higher education and farming sectors, leaders are pushing for increased youth involvement. On October 2, AgriFocus Africa reported that Professor Kennedy Machira of the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) urged the country to direct its youth toward agricultural innovation. Speaking at his professorial inaugural lecture, Machira noted that young people make up 78 percent of the population and are essential for economic development. Dr. Eluphy Banda Nyirenda, Country Director for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), supported the call, stating that young Malawians need access to financing and technology to build viable farming enterprises.
In related developments, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is urging stakeholders to collaborate to modernise agricultural practices, according to an October 2 report by the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation.