Vendors hijacking Maize at Admarcs in Balaka

Residents of Malawi’s Balaka have complained to authorities on the shortage of maize in Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) depots in the district.

Speaking to a local media house, one of the residents, Anderson Zimema said people from Bonzole village in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Nsamala are not having access to maize in Admarc depot in the area.

“The situation is very harsh. People are now surviving on cooked mangoes as a meal, because there is no maize in our Admarc depot, once there is a delivery of maize vendors are at the forefront buying maize with help from the staff,” said Zimema.

Zimema further called on government to act on the situation arguing that there can be serious results including malnutrition among under five children. We know government has no money but the situation is really serious, something needs to be done quickly,” said Zimema.

Due to floods that affected the country earlier this year, close to 3 million people are in danger of facing hunger in Malawi.

Reacting to the hunger situation, President Peter Mutharika said government is buying maize from neighboring countries to ensure food security before the harvest of the next agricultural season.