THE National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) plans to sell up to 1m tonnes of grains during fiscal 2025/2026, in local and regional markets.

Dr Andrew Komba, the NFRA director general, told journalists in Dar es Salaam over the weekend that the agency has already secured trade agreements to support this projection.

The government plans to purchase an estimated 1.2m tonnes of maize during the 2025/26 season, while the CEO says that the agency's goal is to strengthen its trade partnerships and enhance internal capacity to manage surplus food supplies.

Over the past four years, NFRA has sold a total of 600,000 tons of maize, millet, rice, beans and peas destined for India and China, he said.

The government has enhanced the agency’s purchasing power and improved storage facilities, he said, shifting from selling up to 60,000 tonnes of grains to ten times that quantity within four years, he said.

NFRA agreed to sell 650,000 tonnes of maize to Zambia last year, with half of that quantity already delivered, with the remainder set to be delivered by May this year, he said.

The agency also sold 500,000 tons of the crop to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and 35,000 tons to the World Food Programme (WFP), with all external sales totaling 1,185,000 tonnes, he stated.

Mozambique has expressed interest in purchasing crops from NFRA, and Malawi has entered into an agreement to purchase 50,000 tonnes of grains, with an initial 20,000 tonnes already delivered.

NFRA has expanded its market reach in the past few years, facilitating increased productivity and value addition in farming, he said, pointing at the NFRA's core responsibility as to seek international markets for surplus food produced domestically.

This supports agricultural productivity across the entire value chain, helping to ensure national food security and producing a surplus for export.

"NFRA's strategic initiatives aim to bolster food security, empower local farmers and generate revenue through the export of surplus agricultural products to international markets," he added.