Key Highlights
Note: This report aggregates price data and trends for two rounds—Round 48 (data collected between 7 and 11 February 2022) and Round 49 (data collected between 21 and 25 February 2022). For simplicity purposes, the aggregated rounds (Rounds 48 & 49) will simply be referred to as Round 49.
• Overall, household expenditure marginally increased during the month of February. The Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB) modestly increased by 0.3 percent in urban areas; 1.9 percent in the rural Northern Region; and 0.8 percent in the rural Central Region, while the rural Southern Region registered a decrease in expenditure of 2.2 percent.
• The price of maize grain slightly eased by 2.0 percent from a national average of MK 199 per kg in January to MK 195 per kg in February. The provision of relief items—which was largely maize grain—to households affected by floods in districts in the Southern and some parts of the Central Regions have likely supressed the overall average market prices of maize in the country.
• The price of beans significantly increased by 5.9 percent from an average of MK 1,245 to MK 1,318 per kg. Cowpea and pigeon pea prices also noticeably rose by 6.0 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively, likely a result of low carryover stocks from the previous season coupled with anticipated poor production this year due to prolonged dry spells followed by flood damage.
Source: World Food Programme