Minimum Expenditure Basket in Malawi - Round 34: 26—30 July 2021 - A Look at Food Prices and Availability in Times of COVID-19
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• Households in both the urban areas and rural Northern Region experienced a rise in the Survival Minimum Expenditure Baskets (SMEBs), increasing by 0.7 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. In the rural Central and Southern Regions, however, households’ expenditure decreased slightly as their SMEB fell by 0.1 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
• Maize grain prices continue to trend lower than 2020 levels for this same period; however, pulse prices are higher than 2020 levels. The closing national average price of maize grain for the month of July was MK 130 per kg. This represents a marginal increase of 0.8 percent from MK 129 per kg in the previous round (mid-June). By district, maize prices ranged between MK 98 per kg and MK 163 per kg.
• Prices of pulses continued to fall. The price of beans decreased to MK 952 per kg, down by 2.9 percent from the last round’s price of MK 980 per kg. The average prices of cowpeas and pigeon peas continued to decline, selling at MK 556 per kg (down by 0.1 percent) and MK 463 per kg (down by 5.7 percent), respectively.