Making Admarc Vibrant Again

 The Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) has been at the heart of Malawi agricultural transformation for ages.

To begin with, Admarc has been serving as the storage facility for most farmers, who do not have standard and quality warehouses. When most smallholder farmers store maize at home, it is eaten by pests, such that much of the produce is lost to the pests.

As such, when Admarc markets open in good time, farmers take their produce to the State market trader in good time, thereby entrusting it [the produce] in the able hands of Admarc, which has the requisite storage facilities across Malawi.

Again, farmers get better returns for their investment in farming when they sell produce to Admarc, which, unlike unscrupulous vendors, sells maize at government-determined farm gate prices.

Admarc’s other advantage is that its depots are scattered across the country, easing farmers’ access to such markets. Because farmers do not spend a lot of money on transport, they get better returns.

There are countless market advantages for Admarc.

However, despite getting State funding and, every now and then, bailouts, Admarc has been misfiring.

Of course, funding is an issue. Depending on the government means Admarc’s needs compete with those of other State agencies, such that it is not possible to always get the funding requirements it needs.

Therefore, we were elated when the corporation became a limited liability company, as that meant it would be making some of the decisions, especially commerce-related ones, from a semi-autonomous position.

However, this seems to have failed as Admarc continues to rely on State funding.

Indeed, Admarc officials seem to forget that they have to balance between socio and economic roles. That way, issues pertaining to inadequate funding would be a thing of the past.

No wonder, this year, Admarc has been failing to buy maize from some areas, a problem attributed to funding issues.

To make matters worse, when Admarc tried a hand at commercialisation by venturing into a maize flour business, things did not go according to plan. Significant quantities of maize went bad.

This is unfortunate and points to structural issues at Admarc.

Maybe Admarc should undergo comprehensive reforms. Otherwise, why should Malawians continue taming an institution that has been failing year after year.

It is high time the authorities found a permanent solution to Admarc’s problems or just dismantle the corporation altogether. Market liberalisation means Admarc can no longer enjoy monopoly of the market. Therefore, staying ahead of the market requires innovation.