Malawi: All about the price of maize
BLANTYRE: "There are often several versions of the truth" is an adage that could apply to the possibility of food shortages in Malawi during the hungry season, which will end in another two months, as IRIN found out on a road trip through the country's southern and central regions.
A study by the US-based Michigan State University (MSU) points to a serious hunger problem in Malawi in early 2009; the government has maintained that it has enough maize.
Prices for the staple food are at record levels: a 50kg bag, which would feed a family of four for a month and a half, costs at least US$32, "which is unaffordable in a country where the average income of an individual is about $160 for the year," said Rafiq Hajat, executive director of the Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI), a think-tank based in the commercial capital, Blantyre.
