“My bananas were seized and destroyed”

Traders report their losses as Tanzania is pressed against people who are trying to dispose of a ban on goods from neighboring malavae in an escalating regional commercial line.

On Friday, Businesswomen told the BBC that some fellow traders were arrested on the second day of a ban imposed by Tanzania throughout the agricultural imports by Malawi and South Africa.

“My bananas were seized and destroyed. At the moment, our business brought us losses and only a little money is left,” says Jasta Chanya, a carrot merchant, about 50 km (30 miles) from the border with Tanzania.

Diplomatic efforts to deal with the dispute have failed, but the Minister of Agriculture of Tanzania said the translations are ongoing.

Last month, Malawi blocked the import of flour, rice, ginger, bananas and corn from Tanzania and other countries, saying that this is to protect local producers.

South Africa has been banning bananas from Tanzania for years.

On Thursday, the Minister of Agriculture of Tanzania Hussein Bashe said that trade restrictions from these two countries “directly affected” the traders from his country and described the trade barrier as “unfair and harmful”.

Bashe announced an immediate ban on all agricultural imports from both sides, “to protect our business interests.”

The commercial flows are heavily affected by Casumulu – the official border crossing between Tanzania and Malawi.

When the BBC visits the city of Malavian Caranga, the traders – mostly women, said they were still shaken by the view of tons of their products slowly rotting, after which they were eventually discarded after being refused to enter Tanzania.

“The losses I have inflicted are big because I can’t go to buy anything more and I don’t even know how I will feed my children,” said June Mavvavaja.

But Tanzani traders were also affected.

On Saturday, the Minister of Agriculture of Tanzania posted video on social media showing a pile of rotten bananas In a truck that was prevented from entering Malawi.

Tons of tomatoes also broke at the border recently, after Tanzania trucks were refused to enter Malawi.

Malawi traders like Jennif Mshany said they prefer agricultural goods from Tanzania, as it is easier and more affordable to drain them across the border.

“The Tanzanian products are large and are sold very well on the market and their prices are good. Our local (Malawi) products are more expensive. I have nothing to do – I have no ability to compete with those (who have big capital). I just can’t,” she told the BBC.

They said that the Tanzanian production, especially the potatoes, are more large and of better quality.

Others said their customers prefer the Tanzanian plants to the Malawi, describing the former as more tasty, while the latter were often mushrooms.

But as of Thursday, the authorities in Malawi, both on the border and in the nearby markets, are becoming increasingly strengthened – often arrested traders found with Tanzanian production.

“When we carry Tanzania goods, they bring us back. One of us was stopped and arrested exactly at the border,” another merchant said.

Some of them said they had no idea why they were blocked, while some rich businessmen were still allowed to transport goods across the border.

“They are directed at us who have little capital, while those with big money still carry goods,” says G -Ja Chaanya, which sells potatoes and bananas on the Karonga market.

After the repression, some traders resort to the sale of their goods secretly, fearing to show them openly out of fear of arrest.

“We only wear three or four groups (on bananas) just to earn their livelihood for children,” says Evelina Mavakiyung, adding: “But our big shipments are blocked, so we don’t have a business – we fight our families.”

Usually, the lively border crossing of Casumulu remains noticeably more than usual, with drivers seeing themselves to relax in the shade of the trees and others played or settled in the back of their trucks.

They refused to be quoted directly, but explained that they were just waiting for a word from their bosses about what to do.

On a normal day, more than 15 trucks loaded with agricultural products will cross the border, drivers told the BBC.

The spokesman for the Ministry of Trade of Malawi Patrick Bota told local media that they are yet to receive official communication on the matter.

“We hear (for) this from social media. At the right moment we will comment,” he quoted.

Malawi has become an increasingly important market for Tanzanian goods in recent years, with exports revolving between 2018 and 2023, according to the official figures of Tanzania.

But Malawi, who relied on the ports of Tanzania to carry their exports such as tobacco, sugar and soybeans to the rest of the world, will have to redirect its goods.

It is not yet clear how much South Africa, which exports various fruits, including apples and grapes, in Tanzania, will be struck by the ban. The South African authorities are yet to comment.

The order comes at a time when Africa is to focus on a greater free trade through the creation of a free trade area across the continent, which began to operate four years ago.

Additional reporting from Wycliffe Muia