Update: The Ministry of Agriculture has set the 2025/26 minimum farm gate price for maize at K900 per kilogram, or K45,000 per 50-kilogram bag. This represents a decline from last year's rate of K1,050 per kilogram. According to Nation Online, Farmers Union of Malawi president Manes Nkhata rejected the new rate as a raw deal, warning that it could discourage farmers and reduce national maize production. The union had proposed a minimum price of K1,200 per kilogram to offset the rising costs of agricultural inputs. The Ministry also released prices for other commodities, setting rice at K1,500 per kilogram, soya beans at K1,700 per kilogram, and shelled groundnuts at K3,500 per kilogram.
Update: A dispute has emerged over bail conditions in the K25 billion fertiliser case involving Leader of Opposition Simplex Chithyola Banda. Following his release on bail, the defence and the State are now clashing over his travel documents, Nyasa Times reports. The court ordered Banda to surrender his documents by April 27, but his legal team is pushing for their release so he can attend official parliamentary duties in Namibia this month. Banda faces abuse of office charges related to a commodity exchange deal with East Bridge that allegedly failed to deliver 600,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser to the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi.