MALAWI POISED FOR GOOD MAIZE HARVEST, BUT LOW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LILONGWE 000085 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/S - DAN MOZENA, LOIS CECSARINI, KAMANA MATHUR USAID FOR AFR/SD - JEFF HILL, AFR/SD/EGEA - TOM HOBGOOD USAID FOR EGAT/ESP/IRB - ROB BERTRAM E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ECON PGOV MI SUBJECT: MALAWI POISED FOR GOOD MAIZE HARVEST, BUT LOW PRICES WORRISOME ¶1. Summary: Although it is too early to say for certain, Malawi appears to be headed for another year of surplus maize production, the result of good rains, improved maize seed provided donors, and an extremely expensive, but generally effective, government subsidy program that supplied fertilizer to a wide segment of the population. While the prospect of ample food in the coming year is certainly welcome, there is also concern that government policy will result in excessive surpluses, low producer prices, and disincentives to future production. With a significant surplus from last year's bumper crop still on hand, maize prices have already dropped fifty percent in recent months, due largely to a caution-inspired government ban on exports, even as the world price of maize has risen. Unless the government lifts the maize export ban soon and moves away from interventionist policies, Malawi risks continued market distortions that could lead to future food shortages. With national elections slated for 2009, however, there is little incentive for President Mutharika to abandon his popular subsidy scheme in the next two growing seasons, or to allow exports before the 2007 harvest is ensured. End Summary. ¶2. The government of Malawi's (GOM) fertilizer subsidy program, now in its second year in this incarnation, has encountered both political controversy and technical problems, including opaque coupon distribution, use of counterfeit coupons, a rumored overrun of legitimate coupons, and lawsuits and criminal charges against leaders who provided coupons to political allies rather than needy farmers. Nevertheless, the GOM has accomplished its basic goal of getting inputs to farmers, and for the first time has included private input traders in the distribution channel. The inclusion of private traders is a direct result of donor pressure, and alleviates major concerns that another year of a "parastatal only" subsidy program would drive the private input dealers out of business. ¶3. As of mid-January, fertilizer uptake under the subsidy program reached a record figure of 152,000 tons -- 47,000 tons more than last year's subsidy program. There have been very few complaints of fertilizer shortages, and those have been localized in very small areas. Malawi has also benefited from a contribution of 5,000 tons of improved maize seed (including 3,000 tons of hybrid seed) from the donor community. The unprecedented high applications of fertilizer and improved seed are expected to enable Malawi to meet its national food requirement provided good rains continue throughout the growing season (November to April). Given that it has rained every day in Lilongwe since mid- December, and noting meteorological reports indicating most of the country has received adequate or above-average rains, it seems likely that sufficient moisture will be available. In Malawi, as in Iowa, moisture plus fertilizer equals a good crop, and all reports indicated that this one is going to be exceptional, absent a cessation of the rains in the next five weeks. Maize is flourishing everywhere -- including in the flower beds at the entrance to the Foreign Ministry -- and some is beginning to tassel. -------------- -------------- GOM Food Security Policy Working in the Short-term, but Likely to Backfire -------------- -------------- ¶4. This year's maize price pattern is virtually unprecedented in recent memory. During this pre-harvest period, usually referred to as the "hungry season" -- when maize stocks are scarce and prices high -- maize remains abundant and affordable owing to the 2006 bumper harvest. Boosted by subsidies and favorable weather, Malawi experienced a record harvest of 2.6 million tons in 2006, exceeding national demand by some 500,000 tons. Because of a maize export ban imposed in 2005 (due to food scarcity at that time),grain traders and processors have been unable to sell off their remaining stock, which is estimated at 300,000 tons or more. The ban is a political imperative here: Every Malawian recalls the disaster of the 2001-2002 crop, and the famine that followed. The low harvest was caused by lack of rain and inputs, but Malawians attribute the famine to the fact that the previous government permitted maize exports to continue through the crop season. Thus the GOM is unlikely to lift the ban -- and indeed the President is passionately on the public record to this effect -- until the maize tassels in February or March, allowing for an estimate of 2007 production, and there is no assurance the ban will be lifted even if a surplus is predicted. Note, however, that if the crop LILONGWE 00000085 002 OF 003 estimates forecast a significant surplus, both farm and export prices will fall significantly. ¶5. With the 2007 harvest expected to exceed last year's and export restrictions still in effect, traders are struggling to offload their sizeable 2006 stocks, which risk damage by moisture and pests the longer they sit in substandard storage. More than six months post-harvest, significant storage losses are in fact beginning to occur. The GOM's grain trading agency, the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC),holds 85,000 tons that was purchased at above market prices (USD 138 per ton) through GOM guaranteed bank loans. The National Food Reserve Agency, another GOM institution, holds 70,000 tons. Private grain traders hold more than 100,000 tons that they purchased, mainly speculating that the export ban would be lifted, enabling them to sell to Zimbabwe. The quantity stored at the household level is unknown but thought to be substantial as well. -------------- The Real Cost of Subsidized Farming -------------- ¶6. Maize is now selling at USD 104 per ton in most parts of the country and for as little as USD 83 in some areas (less than half the typical price of USD 210 during the growing season). With the next harvest just two months away, prices are likely to plummet further and grain traders -- who are already selling at a loss -- will continue to suffer. The pressure on prices is not likely to ease unless the GOM lifts the export ban to release excess maize and stabilize prices. In January, the Grain Traders and Processors Association -- which was concerned about falling domestic prices and feared that export markets would soon dry up -- appealed to the donor community to lobby the GOM to lift the ban. -------------- The Rule at ADMARC - Buy High, Sell Low -------------- ¶7. The subsidy program has been extremely expensive for the GOM, not only due to the obvious costs of inputs, but also because of losses associated with stock holding. In 2006 the GOM instructed ADMARC to buy surplus maize and guaranteed its bank loans in anticipation that ADMARC would recoup the money through grain sales. But no one is interested in buying ADMARC's vastly overpriced maize which, at USD 215 per ton, is twice as expensive as privately-traded maize, though political pressure is building to compel ADMARC to unload this maize to consumers at prices below those offered by private traders, thus guaranteeing a major government-financed shellacking. Unless ADMARC is allowed to export maize soon, the only way it can reduce its trading loss, the GOM will likely have to cover its sizeable bank loans. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶8. While generally popular, the GOM's strategy to ensure sufficient maize for domestic consumption by subsidizing inputs and banning exports is seriously distorting Malawi's maize trading market. If the export ban is not lifted soon, falling prices will likely reduce maize production in 2008 as disappointed farmers shift to more profitable cash crops. But with the 2009 elections ahead of him, and political pressure from opposition parties for even higher levels of subsidy, Mutharika shows no signs of changing course. Ironically, falling producer prices for maize may have the beneficial effect of encouraging diversification to other crops better suited to Malawi's agronomic conditions. ¶9. In a recent meeting with donor heads of mission, we posed the question "Is maize at less than 10 kwacha/kilo good or bad for Malawi food security?" On the one hand, low priced maize stretches household food budgets and enables more people to acquire this staple within their incomes. But on the other side, there is a real risk that maize prices will drop to a level close to the cost of production for smallholder farmers who use paid day labor to produce small surpluses as an income producing mechanism. Neither we nor other donors have settled on an answer to the question, but it is crucial for Malawi's well-being that an answer be found. LILONGWE 00000085 003 OF 003 EASTHAM