Mega farmers still owe the Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation (Maiic) about K45 billion in unpaid loans, a crisis that has left the government’s flagship Mega Farms initiative struggling to survive. The unpaid debts came to light after the grace period for farmers expired on January 31, 2026, sparking alarm over the programme’s ability to function effectively.
Mbilidzi and Phiri
The Mega Farms Support Unit, led by Henry Nsatilomo, told Parliament that the programme is facing serious challenges because many farmers have not repaid their loans. Maiic is now using all available methods to recover the money, including reporting defaulters to the Credit Reference Bureau and taking legal action where necessary.
The Mega Farms initiative, which started with 200 farmers in 2024, expanded rapidly to 952 farmers in 2025, covering about 44,000 hectares of land. Officials expected this to produce around 215,000 to 216,000 metric tonnes of maize, more than enough to meet the country’s strategic grain reserve requirements. Farmers were supposed to deliver their maize to Admarc or the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA). Payments would then go to Maiic, which would deduct the loan principal and interest before paying the remainder to the farmers.
But things have gone badly wrong. Investigations revealed that farmers were hoarding about 88,000 metric tonnes of maize in private warehouses instead of delivering it to Admarc or NFRA. In reality, only 5,800 metric tonnes were recorded as delivered, meaning the programme is losing most of its expected output.
Nsatilomo said several factors have contributed to the problems, including bad weather, fraud by people pretending to be mega farmers, and farmers selling inputs instead of using them. Funding problems at Admarc and NFRA also delayed payments, making it harder to recover loans.
Financially, the programme is under serious strain. It was initially allocated K20 billion in 2024, but only K8.9 billion was used, with the rest rolled into the second year. At the start of 2025, Maiic had about K14 billion, from savings and small recoveries. Yet, due to widespread defaults and mismanagement, unpaid amounts have ballooned to K45 billion, far exceeding available resources.
Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, chaired by Anthony Kamoto, has demanded a full report from the Ministry of Agriculture on how Mega Farms is being managed. Principal Secretary for Water Development Henry Manford Njoloma described the programme as “a success that has failed,” noting that the maize exists but is stuck in farmers’ warehouses, leaving the loan recovery system choked.
Even Agriculture Minister Roza Mbilizi previously admitted that Mega Farms has faced serious financial and operational abuses. Today, the programme’s growing debt, uncollected maize, and lack of controls mean it is struggling to achieve its original goals, turning what was meant to boost Malawi’s food production and economy into a programme at risk of collapse.
K45 billion owed, 88,000 tonnes hoarded, only 5,800 tonnes delivered, nearly 1,000 farmers involved. Mega Farms is alive on paper but is being suffocated in practice.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Follow us in Twitter
2 replies on “K45 Billion Still Unpaid as Mega Farms Struggles: Programme Choked by Defaults and Hoarded Maize”
The Maze is there so just go & collect it. Beneficiaries R well to do people with land & other assets so bring them to book should they fail to repay the loans. Bring to task controlling officers for negligence in discharging their duties.
The Maze is there so just go & collect it. Beneficiaries R well to do people with land & other assets so bring them to book should they fail to repay the loans. Bring to task controlling officers for negligence in discharging their duties.