The National Association of Small Farmers in Malawi (NASFAM) praises the government through the Ministry of Agriculture for its timely release of the lowest agricultural prices for the 2024/25 agricultural season.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the association said the TH3E announcement comes at a critical time when smallholder farmers are harvesting and entering the market.
However, NASFAM urges the government to ensure consistent enforcement and support for smallholder farmers.
“As NASFAM, we have been actively involved in the consultation process leading up to these price decisions, and we should note that many of the proposed fees are consistent with ground reality and reflect the needs of the farming community of smallholder farmers,” the statement reads in part.
According to a Ministry of Agriculture’s announcement last week, there was an increase in strategic crops like corn that moved from MK 900/kg (2023/24) to MK 1050/kg (2024/25).
The price of sesame has increased from MK 1800/kg to MK 2000/kg, but Paprika will now fetch MK3000 from MK 2800/kg.
However, there were no changes or marginal shifts in some products. We continue to monitor this. For example, the price of pigeon peas remains at MK 800/kg and Mk 1200/kg for beans and sunflowers, which may not reflect rising production costs.
Sign up for the AllAfrica newsletter for free
Get the latest African news
success!
Almost finished…
You need to check your email address.
Follow the instructions in the email you sent to complete the process.
error!
There was a problem processing the submission. Please try again later.
In response to the announcement, Nasfam said that while prices on 2024/25 show modest but commendable improvements, there is a need for a robust enforcement mechanism for buyers to adhere to the announced prices.
“Historically, weak enforcement has led to farmer exploitation, especially in remote and rural areas. We encourage ministries to deploy district and community-level surveillance teams to track price compliance and provide real-time market information to farmers.”
According to Nasfam, delays in payments from buyers undermine farmers’ trust. Therefore, buyers must be operated transparently and be forced to pay farmers promptly.
The association calls for strategic support for the processing and aggregation of ground nuts, soybeans, sunflowers and beans, among other things.
“As Nasfam continues to support quality control and aggregation, we propose that future pricing mechanisms also consider the staged pricing structure of better quality produce. Products such as ground nuts, sesame, soybeans and sunflowers offer strong comparative benefits for smallholder farmers in Malawi.
Meanwhile, Nasfam has reiterated its unwavering commitment to advocating for fair agricultural policies, comprehensive markets and sustainable livelihoods for smallholder farmers in Malawi.
