Finance Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha has ignited a fierce national debate--and open ridicule--after boldly claiming that the price of maize will tumble to below K20,000 per 50kg bag by August, a promise many farmers and analysts say is detached from economic reality.
Speaking at a political rally in Phalombe North, organised by area MP Feston Chauma, Mwanamvekha painted a rosy picture of a food-secure Malawi under President Peter Mutharika and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). He credited government interventions for what he called a sharp drop in maize prices--from about K100,000 to K50,000 per bag--and confidently promised even cheaper maize in the coming months.
"By August this year, a bag of maize will be selling below K20,000," Mwanamvekha declared. "Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika and the DPP have food at heart because food is life."
But outside the political rally, Mwanamvekha's words have landed with a thud.
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Farmers Cry Foul
At the heart of the backlash is a brutal contradiction: maize cannot be cheap when producing it has become unbearably expensive.
Farmers are currently buying fertiliser at around K160,000 per 50kg bag, more than eight times the price Mwanamvekha is promising for harvested maize. Seed and pesticides have also surged in price, while labour costs continue to rise.
For many farmers, the arithmetic simply does not add up.
"How do you sell maize at K20,000 when fertiliser alone costs K160,000?" one farmer in the Shire Valley asked. "Are we supposed to farm for charity?"
Experts Say Promise Is Unrealistic
Agriculture policy analyst Tamani Nkhono Mvula dismissed the minister's projection as highly unlikely under current conditions.
"I don't think that is possible," Mvula said. "With current input prices, high production costs and the long-standing failure to achieve consistent maize surpluses, we are likely to see low supply, high demand and high prices."
Mvula warned that the only way maize could be sold at such low prices would be through heavy government consumer subsidies via ADMARC or the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA)--a move he says could distort the market.
"Such subsidies make maize production and trading unprofitable. In the long run, they discourage farmers and worsen the problem," he explained.
Government's Vague Plan
When pressed on how the government intends to achieve the promised price drop, Mwanamvekha cited familiar talking points: the Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme (FISP), favourable rainfall and maize imports.
He said fertiliser distribution under FISP is progressing well--but offered no clear explanation of how these factors would overcome record-high input costs and years of declining farmer confidence.
Public Anger Boils Over
Public reaction has been swift and unforgiving.
Commenting on Times 360 Malawi's Facebook page, citizen Mercy Promy Bulla accused politicians of insulting the intelligence of Malawians.
"Farmers threw themselves into the field, took painful loans, bought fertiliser at prices that could break a household, and committed everything just to survive," she wrote.
She said many Malawians were pushed into farming not by opportunity, but by desperation.
"And now these politicians show up with tired speeches, pretending they are champions of cheap maize. Do they think Malawians are fools? Do they think a 50kg bag magically produces itself?"
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Bulla accused leaders of ignoring the human cost behind maize production--the debt, exhaustion and despair farmers endure.
"They have zero understanding of the suffering behind every harvest. They ignore the back-breaking labour, the debt farmers are drowning in, and insane fertiliser prices--and still expect applause."
Politics Over Reality?
Critics argue that Mwanamvekha's remarks were designed for political applause, not economic credibility, delivered at a rally rather than supported by a clear, costed policy plan.
As August approaches, the K20,000 promise is fast becoming a political test: was it a realistic projection--or just another crowd-pleasing statement made far from the maize fields?
For struggling farmers and hungry households, the answer will not be found in speeches--but at the market.
