Food insecurity in Southern Africa is often framed as a problem of low production. But in Malawi, a quieter crisis is eating away at food security, massive post-harvest losses that leave millions without enough to eat, even when fields have produced.
Recent estimates from the World Food Programme (WFP) reveal that Malawi loses between 20 and 30 percent of its maize every year after harvest. That is roughly 600,000 metric tonnes, enough food to feed millions in a country where over four million people already face food insecurity. This is the maize that government annually invests in billions of money to aid farmers and increase production through the Farm Inputs Subsidies, mega farms among other initiatives.
