ADMARC justifies maize price

Authorities at ADMARC are justifying the selling price of maize at 30 thousand kwacha for a 50kg bag in their depots.

This price is considered as unaffordable for low income earners, a development that raises fears of aggravating hunger in many households.

Private traders popularly known as vendors are selling the 50kg bag of maize at 40 thousand kwacha.

ADMARC opened its selling depots last week with hope that the move will protect consumers from exorbitant prices offered by vendors.

In an exclusive interview with Capital FM, ADMARC chief executive officer Daniel Makata revealed that the current maize price is heavily subsidized by the authorities hence selling it at K600 per kilogram.

“Remember the maize was bought by the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) and they had the price where they were buying the grain. So, there is a cost that went into the price of the grain and the other which is going into the actual distribution of the grain. So, whatever is happening, we just want to make sure that we balance the price on the market.” Makata disclosed.

Makata therefore added that if all the costs were to be reflected on the actual price, the maize would have been selling at a higher price.

“So, people should know that if we were to sell this maize at a commercial price it should have not been at K600. The K600 is basically to ensure that we recover a few of the costs that we were using. So, I should assure the people that this maize is selling at a subsidised price.” Makata maintained.

However, some human rights activists including Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) have been pushing for further reduction of maize prices to around K12,000 per 50 kilogram bag in order to enable the majority easily access the grain.

According to CDEDI executive director Sylvester Namiwa, the majority of Malawians are still unable to access the maize due to the impact of the current economic challenges.