Food security emerged as a paramount theme in President Peter Mutharika's State of the Nation Address (SONA) today, underscoring both the critical political implications of widespread hunger and the inherent economic fragility of Malawi, where over 80 percent of its populace relies heavily on rain-fed agricultural practices.

In his address, President Mutharika asserted that the significant drop in maize prices, from approximately K100,000 per 50-kilogram bag to a range of K38,000 to K55,000, was not merely coincidental but a direct consequence of deliberate and robust state interventions. The government intensified maize imports, meticulously restocked ADMARC markets across the nation, and strategically distributed free maize to vulnerable households during the crucial lean season. These efforts, he noted, provided emergency food assistance to more than one million families, effectively averting what could have escalated into a national humanitarian catastrophe.

Furthermore, the President highlighted the progress in agricultural input distribution, stating that fertilizer distribution had successfully reached 65 percent of the targeted 1.1 million beneficiaries. He posited that enhanced access to such vital inputs is indispensable for dismantling the persistent cycle of dependency and low agricultural productivity that has characterized Malawian agriculture for many decades.

Addressing the challenges faced by Malawi's primary export crop, tobacco, Mutharika disclosed that the government actively intervened to facilitate the sale of 3.5 million kilograms of previously unsold leaf. This critical intervention generated US$8.6 million, revenue that would otherwise have been irretrievably lost. He emphasized that this action rescued thousands of farmers from potential financial ruin and played a vital role in stabilizing foreign exchange inflows for the nation.

Concluding his remarks on the subject, President Mutharika boldly declared Malawi's long-term ambition: to transition into a net food exporter, capable of supplying regional markets while simultaneously maintaining robust national reserves. He vehemently described hunger not as an unavoidable natural disaster, but rather as a profound failure of political planning, insisting with conviction that "no Malawian should die of hunger in a country with fertile land and hardworking farmers."