By Vincent Gunde
A Malawi Congress Party (MCP) diehard of Mvera in Dowa district Mr. Rodgers Kamphangala, has urged all maize traders and farmers who were hoarding maize so that they sale it at a price between K150,000 to K200,000 in the months of January and February, 2026 to forget that there will be time to do that.
Kamphangala has advised these traders and farmers to use the opportunity that has come to them for the second time following a statement released by the Malawi Government through the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) that effective Tuesday 10th February, 2026 NFRA resumes purchasing maize across the country.
In the statement, NRA is purchasing maize at a new price of K840 per Kilogram (equivalent to K42,000 per 50 Kilogram bag saying this is following market research which has shown a significant decrease in maize prices across the country.
The statement said maize will be purchased at NFRA depots nationwide except in Lilongwe where NFRA will use Chilambula ADMARC Depot to buy maize from farmers and traders from Lilongwe and the surrounding districts.
The NFRA said purchases shall be conducted strictly on a first- come, first- served basis saying the minimum quantity for sale, is 20 bags of 50 Kilogram (one metric tonne) saying all maize presented for sale must meet NFRA quality standards.
“NFRA reserves the right to suspend maize purchases upon the attainment target for the current year,” reads the NRFA statement in part.
Kamphangala has assured maize traders and farmers that President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika is already aware that some districts across the country are experiencing prolonged dry spells and with Mutharika, hoarding maize, will yield nothing.
He said he had time to visit some districts of the southern region saying the situation is not all that bad observing that some people will produce a bumper harvest amidst the dry spells and others, will not, saying this is the same with Dowa district, not all farmers will produce a bumper harvest.
‘Dowa, a food basket district feeding other districts has been greatly affected by the dry spells and above all else, fertilizer was a big challenge to most of the poor farmers,” said Kamphanagala.
President Professor Mutharika is on record having assured the nation that no one will die of hunger speaking for itself that those who have been hoarding maize for the main agenda of killing fellow Malawians, will have no room as long as Mutharika and the DPP are ruling the country.
