The maize Malawi rejected is now heading to Kenya – as families at home face 8% price surge in a month

Malawian maize is being exported to Kenya to help cover the East African nation’s anticipated shortfall of around 25 million bags, Nyasa Times understands – even as the price of the staple crop soars back home.

Kenya’s Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe confirmed his country wants to import maize to strengthen food security amid drought and unreliable rainfall, as production struggles to keep pace with demand.

But the development comes at a painful time for Malawi, where the price of maize – the nation’s staple food – has surged by a staggering 8 percent in just a single month.

In an extraordinary twist, it has emerged that the maize now being snapped up by Kenyan buyers is grain that was originally rejected for purchase by Malawi’s own authorities.

Kagwe insisted Kenya had not lost its entire maize crop, but stressed the country would still need imports to bridge the widening gap between production and consumption.

‘We think that we are going to be short of about 25 million bags,’ Kagwe said. Kenya consumes an estimated 70 million to 75 million 90-kilogramme bags of maize every year.

Back in Malawi, the outlook is bleak. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has projected that maize prices in the country are set to surge even further – potentially climbing to around K1,270 per kilogramme between October 2026 and March 2027.

The forecast spells more misery for households already grappling with stretched budgets.

In its July Food Security Monitor Report, AGRA pointed to a ‘perfect storm’ of factors driving prices skyward, including soaring fertiliser and seed costs, rising transport expenses, a volatile kwacha, mounting pressure from global markets, and the looming threat of El Niño weather conditions