Malawi is exporting maize to Zambia through Mchinji District despite a government export ban and ongoing food insecurity concerns, a development that has exposed tensions between market forces and national food security policy, experts and stakeholders.
The exports are taking place as the Malawi Government is finalizing plans to import about 20,000 metric tonnes of maize from Zambia, even as local traders move grain across the border in search of higher prices.
A November 2025 Maize Market Report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) confirms that Malawi remains a net importer of maize from Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique, but notes an unusual surge in exports to Zambia in the second week of November through Mchinji toward Chipata in eastern Zambia.
“The reasons behind this anomaly are not immediately obvious,” the report states, adding that domestic maize supply still relies heavily on cross-border trade to stabilize local markets.
According to IFPRI, retail maize prices fell by an average of six percent in monitored Malawian markets, from K1,238 per kilogram in late October to K1,168 per kilogram in the last week of November. However, prices remain higher in Zambia, creating strong incentives for informal exports.
Meanwhile, Economic expert Mike Banda has warned that Malawi’s maize market is being distorted by poor pricing decisions, pushing traders to sell the staple grain across the border instead of locally.
Banda said traders are simply responding to market forces, arguing that high input costs make it unrealistic to expect farmers and vendors to sell maize cheaply on the local market.
“No one would want to sell maize at a cheaper price when the production cost was very high, because they were buying fertilizer as higher as MWK150,000 and you expect people to sell maize at a cheaper price. And that is not working in any business. So, the best was Malawi government to offer good prices of buying mains from the locals,” said Banda.
Banda argued that government pricing decisions are at the center of the problem, saying authorities have attempted to buy maize locally at prices that do not reflect farmers’ and traders’ costs.
As a result, traders are opting to sell informally across the border, particularly into eastern Zambia, where maize prices are more attractive.
According to Banda, the situation could have been avoided if government institutions such as the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) and the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) had offered competitive prices and purchased maize locally.
Banda described the situation as illogical, noting that maize is available within the country but is moving out because of price differentials.
“The simplest solution was for government to offer good prices and buy maize here at home. That would have kept maize in the country, empowered local farmers and saved the much-needed foreign exchange that is now being used to import the same commodity from Zambia,” said Banda.
According to the November 2025 Maize Market Report by the International Food Policy Research Institute, Malawi remains a net importer of maize.
However, the report recorded an unusual outflow of maize into eastern Zambia through Mchinji District in mid-November, driven largely by higher prices across the border.
In October this year, the Malawi Government announced restrictions on the exportation of maize and its products as part of efforts to safeguard national food security, but the continued cross-border trade highlights the challenge of balancing market realities with policy goals.