By Pempho Nkhoma

Blantyre, March 20, Mana: Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has advised farmers in the country not to sell their farm produce to vendors to maintain their harvest for national food security.

Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale, told Malawi News Agency (MANA) on Thursday that as farmers in various parts of Malawi have started harvesting their produce there is need to guard their produce from unscrupulous vendors.

He said the ministry sees the importance of protecting farmers against exploitation and other unfair trading practices that rob them of their hard work.

“To address the tendency of some farmers selling their produce to vendors at low prices, often due to immediate financial pressures or lack of accessible markets, we are working closely with the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) to ensure that their depots are operational and ready to purchase produce, particularly maize, at competitive and fair prices,” he said.

Kawale said his ministry is enhancing structured market systems such as the National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi (NASFAM) and Agricultural Commodity Exchange (ACE), which allows farmers to sell their crops through a transparent platform that guarantees better prices and access to larger buyers.

“We are encouraging farmers to utilize these systems and providing training through our extension services to help them understand how to participate effectively.

“Additionally, the warehouse receipt system under ACE enables farmers to store their produce securely and sell when the market is favourable,” he said.

Kawale, therefore, assured farmers that the ministry will further regulate the market and protect them as government enforces measures that require all produce buyers to obtain permits from the Ministry of Agriculture, in line with the Agricultural General Purposes Act.

He said this ensures that only licensed traders, who are accountable to set standards can operate, reducing the influence of unscrupulous vendors.

“These efforts align with our broader vision under Malawi 2063 to transform agriculture into a commercialized, productive sector that ensures food security and improves livelihood.

“We remain committed to supporting farmers, who are the backbone of this nation, and I encourage them to reach out to district agricultural offices for assistance or clarification on these initiatives,” the minister said.

Agriculture expert, Tamani Nkhono Mvula, said apart from encouraging farmers to sell their produce to recommended markets, government should ensure that markets are open in time, offer good prices and open satellite markets closer to the farmers saying this will help reduce exploitation and unfair trading practices by vendors.

“The challenge has been that vendors, in most cases, are the only available buyers as ADMARC fail to open in time, or may be too far away from the farmers. Farmers, therefore, opt to sell their produce to vendors who mostly happen to be immediate buyers,” he said.

Ministry of Agriculture intensifies public awareness to sensitize farmers to retain some of their harvest for household food security and sell the surplus through official channels rather than to vendors offering exploitative prices.