The Fertilizer Association of Malawi has warned that fertilizer prices in the country will likely go up due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The association’s executive administration officer Mbawaka Phiri has issued the warning in an interview with the local media.
According to Phiri, prices are expected to rise between June and July this year due to the war in Ukraine. She explained that Russia is a major exporter of natural gas which is used to produce Urea and other fertilizers.
In Malawi, fertilizer prices also rose from around K22,000 in 2020 to K38,000 per 50KG bag in 2021. A 2021 policy note by International Food Policy Research Institute attributed the rise in prices to factors such as depreciation of Kwacha, high demand for fertilizer in South America and high energy prices which limited supply of raw materials used in fertilizers production.
In November last year, several fertilizer suppliers pulled out of the 2021-22 Agriculture Inputs Programme (AIP) due to disagreements with government over prices.
Government wanted to buy the fertilizer at K27,000 per bag with farmers paying K7,500 and government paying the remaining K19,500 but suppliers argued that the price set by government would result in losses for them.
