A trade row between Malawi and Tanzania continues to escalate with the Tanzanian Minister of Agriculture Hussein Bashe announcing a comprehensive ban on the importation and transit of food produce from Malawi.

Tanzania, Malawi’s northern neighbor, is a key conduit for various imported goods to landlocked Malawi.

The relationship between the two countries has been reasonably cordial but things began to change after Malawi President, Lazarus Chakwera made minor changes to his cabinet, naming Vitimbiko Mumba as the new Trade Minister.

After assuming office, Mumba ordered a ban on the import into Malawi of goods from all countries as “a temporary measure to protect local producers.”

“It is a strategic move to create an environment where local businesses can thrive without the immediate pressure of foreign competition,” Mumba said when he announced the ban in March.

This meant Malawi blocked imports of Tanzanian flour, rice, ginger, bananas, and maize.

Tanzania has been irked by the ban saying it was severely impacting Tanzanian traders reliant on the Malawian market.

Soon after the ban was announced, Tanzania’s Minister for Agriculture, took to Twitter (now known as X) to ask Malawi to reverse the trade decisions, threatening to “respond firmly if the restrictions are not lifted.”

But Mumba, the Malawi trade minister, refused to budge, saying he could not respond to Twitter (X) posts.

“We, as the Ministry of Trade and Industry, have only received formal communication from Zambia, Comesa and Ambassadors from AU. We have proposed meetings with them all and my counterpart from Zambia will be travelling to Malawi to appreciate why we issued the Prohibition Notice,” Mumba said, adding: “I cannot respond to Twitter (X) posts (no matter who post them) on such sensitive matters of national importance.”

Tanzanian authorities have now taken the next step, announcing a comprehensive ban on the importation and transit of food produce from Malawi.

“I am officially announcing that from today, it is illegal to bring or allow food produce from Malawi into Tanzania. This decision has been made in the best interest of our farmers and consumers,” Tanzanian Minister of Agriculture Hussein Bashe told a press conference in his country on Thursday.

Bashe added: “Transit food produce from Malawi to other countries will also not be allowed to pass through our territory. We are taking these steps to protect our agricultural sector from potential risks associated with imported goods.”

The Tanzanian minister said in addition to the bans on food imports Malawi’s request for agricultural inputs, scheduled for delivery starting May 1 2025, has also been rejected.

There has been no immediate reaction from Lilongwe but in one of his recent social media posts, minister Mumba sounded unmoved, suggesting he felt that he was on the right path.

“When you get on the right path after realizing that you were on the wrong one, those that benefitted from your wrong path will always be up in arms, calling for a return so that they can continue exploiting you,” Mumba said in a Facebook post.

“While on the wrong path, you ran miles on behalf of others who cannot even crawl a metre on your behalf. Unfortunately, there will always be happy slaves who will try to pull you down from the right path. Either for political reasons or personal hatred,” he added

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