A Catholic University based economic analyst Gilbert Kachamba has urged government to impose a ban on exportation of maize amid fears of looming hunger crisis.

The suggestion comes in the wake of a recent report by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee which has revealed that at least 3.3 million households in the country will be food insecure.

Kachamba told YFM that the only way to contain the challenge is by controlling the unnecessary exit of maize which is the country’s staple food.

“Maize contributes to a bigger portion of food in the country, therefore we should preserve enough maize in the consumer’s basket, and we should avoid exporting this maize unnecessarily,” Kachamba explained.

He further said that exportation of maize would result into scarcity of the commodity which will also result into upward adjustment of maize prices.

“It’s good to have the maize in the country rather than exporting to other countries and create a scarcity of the commodity here, I must emphasize that once maize is scarce prices will obviously jump upwards which will also be bad for Malawians,” he added.