Malawi has started exporting this year's commodity to its traditional markets of India and China, including new buyers, Singapore, Pakistan, Tanzania, India, Kenya, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

However, the Ministry of Trade spokesperson, Patrick Botha, forecasts that the country will not meet the pigeon pea demand due to low production.

Botha says this follows the county's continued reliance on subsistence agriculture which results in low production.

This comes as India also removed a pigeon pea quota of 50, 000 metric tonnes export for Malawi in the 2024-2025 farming season; meaning there is no tonnage limit to export to the Asian state.

Botha believes that, "There is full potential to meet and surpass the current market demand in the near future through the ATM strategy, agricultural commercialization and mechanisation, if they are embraced in the mega farm concept, unlike the same subsistence approach," he said.

Legumes Development Trust Programme Officer Sangwani Makoko says the country is missing out due to lack of support for smallholder farmers to produce the required volumes on the market.

Makoko agrees that the mega farm approach, if well supported, can be a game changer.

Crop estimates for the 2023-2024 growing season projected a 10.9 percent increase in pigeon peas production.