PIGEON PEAS MARKET LOOKING SHAKY – Malawi News

In January, the Nandolo Farmers Association unveiled plans to improve production to satisfy markets in Kuwait, South Africa and Ghana. The associations Chairperson Susan Chimbayo said this would be achieved by the purchase of value adding machines. On the other hand, the pigeon peas market price spiked at a profitable 180%. On the downward side, it seems the market may be failing.

Since India introduced a trade policy on import of Tur Dal in August 2017, Malawi has lost 64% in export earnings between 2016 and 2018, according to figures from the High Commission of India, which also show that Malawi exports to India have fallen from $39.3 million (about K29 billion) in 2016/17 to $9.05 million (about K7 billion) in 2017/18, followed by a resurgence in the imports of pigeon peas to $14.32 million (about K10 billion) in the 2018/19 financial year.

Following the closure of the export market in India, Malawi has been left with little to no market outlets for marketing the commodity. Under pressure and out of desperation, smallholder farmers disposed of their commodity at around K70 per kilogram (kg) much lower than the government recommended price of K320 per kg.