Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation
ADMARC, the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation, is Malawi’s state-owned marketing body. It was formed in 1978 to boost the economy by increasing the volume and quality of Malawian crops, open new markets for them abroad, and support farmers. It came from earlier colonial-era marketing boards that were more about controlling small farmers and raising government revenue than helping development. At first, ADMARC could also finance public and private projects.
In its early years ADMARC worked like a business, but it diverted resources from smallholders to tobacco estates often run by the ruling elite. This led to corruption and inefficiency. When world tobacco prices fell, ADMARC became insolvent by 1985. To get World Bank loans, it was partly privatised and, under neoliberal pressure, it had to cut fertilizer subsidies. This contributed to severe food shortages in 1992. Donors then pushed Malawi toward multi-party politics, and President Banda was removed in 1994.
After 1994, ADMARC’s role shrank. It became a “buyer of last resort” and helped maintain food security by keeping a maize stockpile from domestic and foreign purchases. In 1996 the World Bank criticised ADMARC for subsidising maize and forced it to give up control of grain imports. Its record on food security was mixed: it helped prevent a famine in 1998, but financial problems in 2000 and 2001 led it to sell much of its maize reserves ahead of poor harvests in 2002.
A new round of World Bank intervention in 2002 pushed ADMARC to cut losses by reducing trading and letting private traders compete. The changes were not straightforward: ADMARC survived in a changed form, and by 2009 it was growing again. In 2003, the law changed ADMARC from a parastatal into a limited liability company, with the government still owning 99% of its shares and appointing directors. Donors continued to view ADMARC as inefficient and too dependent on government control.
The private sector was supposed to take over most marketing, but it did not. MAWTCO was created in 2006 to lease warehouse space to private traders, but private capacity was not enough to run a full system. ADMARC stayed as a residual buyer and seller, setting floor and ceiling prices in some areas and keeping some long-distance trade alive. Its presence created some competition in areas with few buyers.
ADMARC’s footprint expanded over the years: about 180 outlets in 2002/03, 788 in 2009/10, and 904 in 2010/11. Yet its influence remained tied to politics, leading to accusations of corruption and decisions not always in farmers’ best interests. In 2013 it faced criticism for letting stored grain rot while many people went hungry. In 2017 the government helped ADMARC pay loans to buy maize after a poor harvest, and ADMARC reported buying tens of thousands of tonnes in the 2017/18 season.
Food shortages reappeared in 2019-20, and ADMARC again lacked enough grain reserves or cash to sell food at affordable prices to many rural people (about 1.06 million people were expected to be food-insecure). Overall, ADMARC still exists because a fully private, efficient marketing system has not emerged, but it remains controversial: critics say it is inefficient, wasteful, and too closely controlled by government.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 01:11 (CET).