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From Town Tools. For the current version, visit https://www.towntools.org/nkhata-bay-nkhata-bay-mw/market-prices
Fish and cassava money moves through Nkhata Bay's markets, and traders shuttle produce between the boma, the district trading centres and Mzuzu — often by boat. This board puts the World Food Programme's monthly market survey side by side for those markets, and shows how prices have usually moved through the year. Keep one thing in mind: these are retail prices, what buyers pay at the market stall. A trader buying at your gate or on the beach will usually offer less.
Latest at Nkhata Bay (boma)
K900
Maize
per kg · October 2026
K1,200
Cassava
per kg · September 2026
K3,000
Rice
per kg · September 2026
Compare markets
Maize — per kg
Market
Price
Nkhata Bay (boma)
K900
Mpamba
K900
Chintheche
K900
Zigwagwa (Mzuzu)
K850
All prices from the October 2026 survey.
Cassava — per kg
Market
Price
Nkhata Bay (boma)
K1,200
Mpamba
K1,600
Chintheche
K2,000
Zigwagwa (Mzuzu)
K4,000
All prices from the September 2026 survey.
Rice — per kg
Market
Price
Nkhata Bay (boma)
K3,000
Mpamba
K3,000
Chintheche
K3,300
Zigwagwa (Mzuzu)
K2,750
All prices from the September 2026 survey.
Beans — per kg
Market
Price
Nkhata Bay (boma)
K6,000
Mpamba
K3,000
Chintheche
K2,750
Zigwagwa (Mzuzu)
K3,250
All prices from the October 2026 survey.
Groundnuts (shelled) — per kg
Market
Price
Survey
Nkhata Bay (boma)
K4,500
September 2026
Mpamba
K4,500
September 2026
Chintheche
K4,500
September 2026
Zigwagwa (Mzuzu)
K4,500
August 2026
Soybeans — per kg
Market
Price
Nkhata Bay (boma)
K3,600
Mpamba
K6,000
Chintheche
K3,950
Zigwagwa (Mzuzu)
K2,500
All prices from the September 2026 survey.
Small dried fish — per kg
Market
Price
Nkhata Bay (boma)
K8,000
Mpamba
K12,000
Chintheche
K16,000
Zigwagwa (Mzuzu)
K8,000
All prices from the September 2026 survey.
Tomatoes — per kg
Market
Price
Nkhata Bay (boma)
K1,800
Mpamba
K1,200
Chintheche
K975
Zigwagwa (Mzuzu)
K3,000
All prices from the September 2026 survey.
Fertilizer — NPK — per 50 kg bag
Market
Price
Nkhata Bay (boma)
K198,000
Mpamba
K197,000
Chintheche
K195,000
Zigwagwa (Mzuzu)
K199,000
All prices from the September 2026 survey.
Fertilizer — urea — per 50 kg bag
Market
Price
Nkhata Bay (boma)
K198,000
Mpamba
K198,000
Chintheche
K195,000
Zigwagwa (Mzuzu)
K199,000
All prices from the September 2026 survey.
How prices usually move through the year
Worked out from the same surveys going back to 2004: each month is compared with the average for its own market and year, so currency inflation drops out and only the seasonal shape remains. Only commodities with at least three years of history are shown.
Month
Maize vs the year’s average
January
+10%
February
+15%
March
+10%
April
-10%
May
-10%
June
-15%
July
-10%
August
-10%
September
about average
October
+5%
November
+10%
December
+15%
Commodity
Usually highest
Usually lowest
Cassava
December (+5%)
January (-10%)
Rice
February (+10%)
June (-5%)
Beans
December (+5%)
April (-10%)
Groundnuts (shelled)
December (+5%)
January (-10%)
The markets
Nkhata Bay (boma)
in town — the district capital's market
Mpamba
trading centre about 13 km northwest of town
Chintheche
south along the M5 lakeshore road
Zigwagwa (Mzuzu)
Mzuzu's main produce market, up the escarpment road — where district traders also sell
About the fish row
The 'small dried fish' figures are the survey's own per-kilogram category at the market stall. Beach prices at the landing sites — where usipa actually changes hands first — are not surveyed, so they are not shown here.
Survey months, not today
WFP surveys these markets monthly and publishes with a lag — the date next to each figure is the survey month. When we set this page up in June 2026, the newest rows for all four markets were from March 2026.
For the radio
A short summary a presenter can read on air, survey month included.
From the October 2026 World Food Programme market survey: at Nkhata Bay (boma), maize at K900 per kg. These are retail prices — what buyers pay at the market stall.
Updated 12 October 2026. Figures are in Malawian kwacha (MWK) — retail prices from the World Food Programme’s monthly market surveys, shared on the Humanitarian Data Exchange (CC BY-IGO). Surveys run about once a month and publish with a lag, so the newest figures can trail the market floor by a few weeks.