Don’t sell maize to vendors – APM warns Malawians

President Arthur Peter Mutharika has asked Malawians not to sell their harvest to vendors at a time when the country is experiencing another spell of food shortage, a situation that has forced government to declare a state of national disaster.

In a statement posted on his  official Facebook page on Wednesday, President Mutharika discouraged those depleting their household food stocks from continuing with such tendency.

“It has come to my notice that some families across the country are already selling the grain they have harvested to vendors let alone at very low prices. As such this sad trend of letting go our food stocks this early does not augur well with our desire to ensure that every household has enough food up until the next harvesting season,” wrote the President.

Media reports have indicated that vendors are rushing to villages to buy maize capitalizing on low real income of desperate people.

Following two farming seasons of drought, the President early this year declared Malawi a state of national disaster and called upon the international community to intervene.

His call has already yielded results with many stakeholders giving Malawi money to buy extra maize
from neighbouring countries.

While remaining optimistic with the help Malawi has so far received, the President emphasized that there is no need to be careless with the food already in homes.

“We must jealously guard our food stocks at household level. My government will surely have enough food for you but that does not give us a leeway to sell the little we have,” he said.

Malawi and other countries in the Sub Sahara region have for the past three years been hit by El Nino spell which has affected the pattern of rainfall in the region. This pattern has brought little or destructive rains across the board.