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Malawi’s Maize Marketing System

Author

Listed:
  • Jayne, Thomas S.
  • Sitko, Nicholas J.
  • Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob
  • Mangisoni, Julius H.

Abstract

National food security in Malawi depends on improving the performance of maize markets. Ensuring that grain is consistently available at tolerable prices is crucial for consumers’ food security. At the same time, surplus producing farmers need to receive farm-gate prices consistently above production costs to intensify the use of fertilizer and other productivity enhancing technologies in a sustainable manner. These concerns give rise to the classic food price dilemma for policy makers in Malawi: how to keep prices low enough to ensure low income consumers’ access to food while keeping prices high enough to promote farm production incentives. These tensions cannot be avoided but they can be relieved through reducing food marketing margins, which shrink the wedge between producer and consumer prices. Moreover, Malawi faces major political and economic problems associated with food price instability especially given its dependence on rain fed agriculture in a region prone to drought. These issues show that improving the performance of maize markets is at the core of achieving sustainable food security and poverty reduction in Malawi.

Suggested Citation

  • Jayne, Thomas S. & Sitko, Nicholas J. & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Mangisoni, Julius H., 2010. "Malawi’s Maize Marketing System," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 62162, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:midcwp:62162
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.62162
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Flory, Jeffrey A., 2018. "Formal finance and informal safety nets of the poor: Evidence from a savings field experiment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 517-533.
    2. Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Mason, Nicole M. & Jayne, Thomas S. & Darko, Francis Addeah & Tembo, Solomon, 2013. "What are the effects of input subsidy programs on equilibrium maize prices? Evidence from Malawi and Zambia," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 161264, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    3. Matthias Kalkuhl & Lukas Kornher & Marta Kozicka & Pierre Boulanger & Maximo Torero, 2013. "Conceptual framework on price volatility and its impact on food and nutrition security in the short term," FOODSECURE Working papers 15, LEI Wageningen UR.
    4. Mazunda, John & Shively, Gerald, 2015. "Measuring the forest and income impacts of forest user group participation under Malawi's Forest Co-management Program," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 262-273.
    5. Myers, Robert J., 2013. "Evaluating the effectiveness of inter-regional trade and storage in Malawi’s private sector maize markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 75-84.
    6. Giovanni Andrea Cornia & Laura Deotti & Maria Sassi, "undated". "Food Price Volatility over the Last Decade in Niger and Malawi: Extent, Sources and Impact on Child Malnutrition," UNDP Africa Policy Notes 2012-002, United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Africa.
    7. Koirala, Krishna H. & Mishra, Ashok K. & Sitienei, Isaac, 2015. "Farm Productivity and Technical Efficiency of Rural Malawian Households: Does Gender Make a Difference?," 2015 Annual Meeting, January 31-February 3, 2015, Atlanta, Georgia 196903, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    8. Skjeflo , Sofie Waage & Holden , Stein, 2014. "Economy-wide effects of input subsidies in Malawi: Market imperfections and household heterogeneity," CLTS Working Papers 7/14, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    9. Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Mason, Nicole M. & Darko, Francis & Jayne, Thomas S. & Tembo, Solomon, 2013. "What are the Effects of Input Subsidies on Maize Prices? Evidence from Malawi and Zambia," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 154938, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    10. Tione, S. E. & Katengeza, Samson P. & Mangisoni, Julius H., 2013. "Analysis of Effectiveness of Modern Information and Communication Technologies on Maize Marketing Efficiency in Selected Markets of Malawi," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 161447, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    11. Chinsinga, Blessings & Chirwa, Ephraim W., 2013. "Dealing with the 2007/08 Global Food Price Crisis: The Political Economy of Food Price Policy in Malawi," WIDER Working Paper Series 030, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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