Minimum Expenditure Basket in Malawi – Rounds 44 & 45: 13—17 and 27—31 December 2021 – A Look at Food Prices and Availability in Times of COVID-19

Key Highlights

Note: This report aggregates price data and trends for two rounds—Round 44 (data collected between 13 and 17 December 2021) and Round 45 (data collected between 27 and 31 December 2021). For simplicity purposes, the aggregated rounds (Rounds 44 & 45) will simply be referred to as Round 45.

• Households’ minimum survival expenditures continued to rise across the country since the last round. The Survival Minimum Expenditure Baskets (SMEBs) rose by 3.7 percent in the urban areas; 1.3 percent in the rural Northern Region; 5.5 percent in the rural Central Region; and 8.4 percent in the rural Southern Region. In the current round, the sharp increase in maize prices across the regions largely contributed to the increase in total expenditure.

• The average price of maize grain significantly rose by 18.1 percent from MK 144 per kg in the previous round to MK 170 per kg in the current round, above the Government’s minimum farmgate price of MK 150/kg. Continued consumption, increased exportation and hoarding of the grain by some traders have reduced the supply of the commodity on the market, thus pushing prices upwards.

• The price of beans further rose by 2.1 percent to MK 1,171 from MK 1,147 per kg per kg. Cowpea and pigeon pea prices increased by 5.3 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively. Between Rounds 43 and 45, the price of cowpeas rose from MK 641 per kg to MK 675 per kg, while pigeon pea prices increased to from MK 577 per kg to MK 633 per kg.

Source: World Food Programme