Many Malawians need food aid

The Southern African country has been seriously hit by drought and severe food shortages.

In February, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) distributed food to 3.6 million Malawians.

But Chief Technical Advisor at Malawi's Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Allard Malindi, said Malawi is being responsible in seeking to sell off the grain because they were expecting a good harvest in three months' time.

"We seem to have a surplus at the moment in the country. Right now the crop looks very good in the field, " he told the BBC's Network Africa.

Support

Mr Malindi said that their decision was backed by donors, including the European Union, even though donors say the delivery of food aid will have to continue for some time.

"The maize which is being sold is that which the Malawi Government bought to be sold commercially in the country," he said.

"Government would like to recover some of the money used to buy the maize. That's why the decision has been made to sell a small proportion of the commercial maize,"

Aid officials say it is important for grain not to flood the market at cheap prices before the harvest begins.

A 50 kg bag of maize currently costs about $10 in Malawi, but the average monthly income is only $18.

The food crisis in Malawi was partly blamed on a sale by the government of 60,000 tonnes of maize to Kenya two years ago.

They blamed advice from the International Monetary Fund.