LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The country’s civil rights group Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has urged President Lazarus Chakwera to swiftly provide food to 4.4 million hunger-stricken Malawians.
The call comes amid media reports that state grain agency Agriculture Development Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) is closing shows.
Addressing the news conference on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, in the capital Lilongwe, CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa said Chakwera Tonse government should stop playing games with people’s lives over food.
“At a time some Malawians have resorted to eating wild tubers, some of which are poisonous and can kill, government’s inconsistency, conflicting, and back-and-forth actions regarding maize availability in the country is a cause of concern for which the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) hereby urges President Lazarus Chakwera to weigh in and stop his Tonse Alliance administration from playing such dangerous games with people’s
lives. Food is life.
“Apart from the tenuous supply of maize in Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) selling points, the prevailing maize prices have made the staple food a preserve of those to whom money is not a problem, but how to spend it,” says Namiwa.
He adds, “This is the situation that is forcing the majority poor to risk their lives by eating anything, including wild tubers and bitter maize husks (Madeya) for survival. This is dehumanizing considering that everyone has the constitutional right to food.
“CDEDI would like to draw President Chakwera’s attention to a newspaper article in The Nation of Monday, October 16, 2023, titled ‘Admarc to close shops’, which confirms fears that there is no hope of survival for the poor majority in both urban and rural areas of this country”.
“Contents of the article validate what was already in the public domain, that the country does not have maize enough stocks in its strategic grain reserves, and that no efforts were being made to replenish the stocks.
“But it is disheartening to note that, to some extent, in the said article government creates an impression that it will import maize from Zambia and Mozambique,” said Namiwa.
He explains further, “This impression government is creating is wrong, and a clear indication that the Tonse Alliance administration does not care a dime about the plight of the majority poor in as far as food security is concerned.
“We conclude so, because, in the spirit of transparency and accountability, Malawians may wish to know that Zambia is working on importing yellow maize to exchange with white maize that some of the country’s poultry farmers have earmarked for livestock feed production”.
Namiwa observes, “In fact, as Malawians were reading the said article in The Nation, Zambia’s Food Reserve Agency (FRA), the equivalent of our National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA), was looking for maize fit for human consumption to buy as it explores the yellow maize importation.
“It is, therefore, irresponsible of the Malawi Government to hoodwink its people into believing that Zanbia has offered to sell maize to Malawi. Importing maize from Mozambique is only an option for Malawi, but not feasible at the moment”.
He said, “The reality on the ground is that most of the maize sold in the Southern Region of Malawi comes from Mozambique. The trend, annually, has been that during harvest time in Mozambique the grain moves into Malawi while during the lean period, such as now, Mozambicans also look up to Malawi for survival.
“But that only happens when there is maize here, which is not the case this year. Again, Malawians may wish to know that the Mozambican government does not deal in maize, simply meaning that if we are to get the staple food from there, it will not be a government-to-government business”.
Namiwa adds, “So, again, it is wrong for the Malawi Government to try to make Malawians believe that Mozambique has offered it maize for sale. Even if the offer was there, the powers that be would have to tell Malawians where the government is going to get the forex for facilitating the transaction. Nothing is making sense in these maize games the Malawi Government is playing.
“Then there is a related development concerning an arrangement for the Malawi Government to enter into a 20-year sovereign guarantee with a private company in Zambia. Malawians need to stand firm and reject this arrangement, and they should be worried about this government’s anxiety with barter trade”.
He suggests, “If barter trade is the way to go, then the field should be leveled for all private sector players to play on. It should not be a preserve of a cartel.
“Secondly, if Government wants to change Admarc’s mandate, it should do so through Parliament, because Admarc is a. public entity”.
Namiwa observes, “To make it clear, we have detailed information about the cartel that intends to hijack Admarc for selfish interests at the expense of the majority poor. As the situation stands, Tanzania is the only neighbour from whom Malawi can import maize albeit at a cost of over K1,000 per kilogram since they also used exorbitant farm-gate prices to procure it.
“Since it is clear in the said newspaper article that it was difficult to transport maize to most parts of the country as the maize was in the Central Region, then, CDEDI, on behalf of the hunger-stricken Malawians in the South, would wish government came out clearly on mechanism it has put in place to ensure seamless flow of the staple grain given the setting in of the rainy season in the region that was heavily affected by the devastating Cyclone Freddy that recently washed away important roads and bridges?”
He adds, “Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) reports show that 4.4 Malawians are on the verge of starvation, why does the government believe that giving out cash through Mtukula Pakhomo and Social Cash Transfer is the solution? Where will the targeted beneficiaries get the food from?
“CDEDI hereby challenges our seemingly clueless politicians to let technocrats and the Ministry of Agriculture, Admarc, and NFRA make independent and swift decisions that will save the nation from the current food crisis.
“Politicising food is suicidal. Again, the government should tell Malawians when the second phase of maize distribution will start in the Admarc selling points. That said, CDEDI wishes to caution the President that his government’s hide-and-seek games over maize are regrettable and not sitting well with his political ambitions and aspirations”.
Namiwa appeals, “Needless to remind the President that ‘a hungry man, is an angry man’. Should the President continue to bury his head in the sand, and wish away the situation, CDEDI will not hesitate to wear its governance robs and mobilize the hungry Malawians to storm relevant offices, notably district council offices, to demand their right to food”.
