Soya beans prices excite farmers in Malawi

Soya beans farmers say they are excited with this year’s prices which have gone a record K310 per kilogram and the demand for the legume is still very high.

This comes at a time when tobacco prices are tumbling forcing the closure of Kanengo Auction Floors several times as farmers and buyers disagreed over prices and quality of the leaf.

Tobacco remains the main stay of Malawi economy though government officials including President Peter Mutharika, Finance minister Goodall Gondwe and Agriculture minister George Chaponda have been calling on farmers to start growing legumes which are in high demand in Asia.

In random interviews Kasungu and surrounding districts, farmers said the least they can get is K290 per kilogram.

“This year soya is fetching good prices on the market compared to last year. Buyers are even following us in the villages instead of us following them to their markets, this is unprecedented,” said Adams Chiguduli near Santhe Trading Centre in Kasungu.

He was in a group of a dozen other farmers smiling as buyers from Lilongwe scrambled to buy the new forex kid on the bloc.

Soya is not labour intensive and does not need fertilizer.

Last year the crop was fetching as lower as K100 per kilogram.