Malawi Lilongway - Since his youth, Enock Dayton has made a living from bananas. The 30-year-old was born and raised in Molele, south of Thyolo, a region that has been at the heart of local banana production until the plant virus destroyed the crops more than a decade ago.

Dayton offers customers the green banana he owns at the stalls at the MCHESI market in Lilongway, the capital of Malawi. “I started this business when I was young, we had farms that grow bananas and we would take them here by truck and sell them to individuals,” he told Al Jazeera.

But in 2013, the deadly banana bunch disease eliminated almost all crops in the country. Farmers are asked to pull up the banana plant to avoid the spread of the virus. Thousands of people were affected.

Banana is the fourth largest staple crop in Malawi, second only to corn, rice and cassava, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

United Nations agencies work with other organizations to help restore banana farming in the country - said in 2023 that “with the right investment and strategic support, the banana sector has the potential to provide greater benefits to growers, transporters, consumers and food processors and to provide greater benefits to food and nutrition safety and commercial value”.

But at the same time, in order to maintain its business without enough local produce, farmers and fruit sellers like Dayton turned to neighboring Tanzania to import crops and supplement their own meager local supplies. For example, in 2023 alone, Malawi imported over $491,000 worth of bananas, most of which are 5,564,180 kg (12,266,920 lbs) - mainly from Tanzania. The rest are from South Africa and Mozambique.

But this year, this arrangement suddenly stopped. In March, Malawi said it temporarily banned imports of some agricultural products, including bananas, from Tanzania and other countries. The government said it was to help support local industries and stabilize the country's foreign exchange shortage, which led to challenges including the inability to import certain essentials, such as medicines.

But Malawi may have underestimated the impact of its bold move, observers said.

In retaliation, in April, Tanzania banned all agricultural imports from Malawi and responded to the restrictions it described on some of its exports. The ban has also been extended to South Africa, which for many years has banned access to bananas from Tanzania.

Observers say this is bad news for Malawi, as it is more of a trade receiver between neighbors. According to the Economic Complexity Observation Station (OEC), Malawi exported less than $50 million of products, including soy flour, soybeans and beans, to Tanzania, while it imported hundreds of millions of dollars in the form of fossil fuels, oils, oils, evaporating products, soaps, lubricants, fixed products and other products.

In response, Dar Es Salaam took a step further, extending its trade ban to fertilizer exports from Tanzania to inland Malawi. It also threatens to block cargoes to Malawi through Tanzania.

On the land, Malawi relies on imported goods from Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. Due to the lack of direct access to the sea, Malawi takes advantage of the harbours in Tanzania and Mozambique. But the instability of the Mozambique route – the insecurity caused by recent post-election violence and harassment truck drivers, with the deadlock with Tanzania, has created even greater challenges to industry. Businesses relying on agricultural imports began to cry as their peanut trucks and other agricultural products lined up in Songwe Border.

Malawi also finds itself in a tricky position because it depends on the fuel imported from Tanzania's ports.

Soon, even Kenya found itself entangled in the conflict, as the cargo of Malawi, which had to travel from Tanzania, was also stopped.

The ensuing journey reveals the unstable geographical location of Malawi, as well as regional agreements aimed at promoting trade, efforts by countries to comply with rules, and a country designated as one of the poorest countries in the world.

After weeks of tensions, a high-level meeting between Malawi and Tanzania this month appears to have contributed to differences, paving the way for a ban between the two countries.

"Symptoms of a Huge Challenge"

For Ernest Thindwa, a political commentator at the University of Malawi, the recent trade dispute does not exist in isolation and should also be observed from the political lens.

The two countries will conduct polls this year, first in Malawi in September, and then in Tanzania in November. In an electoral environment, the dispute illustrates the attempts of leaders of both countries to show patriotism and a sense of empowerment for citizens, analysts said.

"The current government (in Malawi) wants to be seen as being delivered, and they want to be seen as responding to people's concerns," Thindwa told Al Jazeera. "Of course, they need to ensure local producers are protected, which has become more urgent as our elections."

Thindwa said Malawi and Tanzania are both signatories to regional and international trade agreements and their framework gives them the right to take measures to protect their trade interests when they see it necessary.

However, he questioned the timing of these moves and asked why the Malawi moves were indeed intended to protect the local industry and were not implemented earlier.

He said in his answer to his question: “Because then it might not be the agent that attracted votes.”

He observed: “You call it a livelihood or a small farmer producer…it is important for the government to try to win votes from such social groups.”

Meanwhile, in Tanzania, the decision to retaliate also worked, Thindwa said.

"The current government of Tanzania wants to be seen as a response to the needs and interests of its citizens. Therefore, the government of Tanzania also wants to project an image of caring for the people. That's why it responds quickly."

Broadly speaking, Thindwa notes that the trade dispute points to the overall challenges faced by African countries – in promoting internal trade and trade within Africa than other continents.

He took Angola as an example, saying that despite oil, countries within the Southern African Development World (SADC) group are still importing oil from the Middle East.

“There is Angola there,” he said. “For example, why can’t they organize a regional project and invest in the ability to ensure that the final product is provided to the region in Angola and Angola so that the region is much cheaper? It will ensure that the resources of the region remain within the region.”

Such an example shows that “Despite these trade agreements, Africa is working to encourage trade between member states.”

“So the situation in Tanzania and Malawi is only a symptom of the huge challenges facing Africa in promoting internal trade.”

Tensions eased

Malawi and Tanzania have held bilateral discussions on their ban order in Tanzania, the Ministry of Trade said in a statement on May 9.

Afterwards, a letter from the Ministry sent to the tax authorities in Malawi, please write: "In this regard, I hope you will promote the removal of exports and imported goods between the Republic of Malawi and the Republic of Tanzania. However, this is not to comply with the licensing of laws and regulations, including the scope of obtaining relevant regulations and regulations, including the scope of obtaining relevant and certificates.

After the talks, Charles Nkhalamba, a spokesman for the Malawi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told neighbors that Al Jazeera signed a "joint communiqué" to resolve the dispute between them.

He said in a message from WhatsApp that the "high-level discussion" was the result of a "strong diplomatic effort" by the Foreign Ministry, adding that Tanzania also "recognizes (ED) the need for an economic environment for import restrictions".

Nkhalamba added that during the meeting, the two sides agreed in principle on the importance of continuing participation and communication on all matters affecting their bilateral trade relations.

A few weeks ago, Tanzania's Ministry of Agriculture also issued a statement that he acknowledged that Lilonwe had contacted Dar Es Salaam to resolve the issue, noting that "Tanzania is lifting a ban on agricultural imports to and from Malawi".

In principle, the trade war between neighbors seems to have stalled at present.

But experts told Al Jazeera that it actually takes some time to sort out the logistics and that the seller who stays while the supply is dry and returns to normal things.

At the market in Lilongway, Dayton was eagerly awaiting the sweet banana truck from across the border, so he had enough money to sell to customers.

He thanked cross-border trade, and the arrangements over the years helped business people like him make money from their neighbors.

But he also felt different when he recalled the chance to lose his crop.

"When we grow our own bananas, we used to be different than what we earn now," Dayton said. "When we buy and buy them at a cheap price... we make a lot of money and in addition to shipping (fees), transportation from Tanzania is very expensive.

“We need our banana.”

Ten years ago, Dayton was the casualties of a natural disaster that brought his garden back to the village. Now, he feels he is the casualty of a decision made by the authorities in a distant office.

“What we want is a stable supply of bananas in this market,” he said. “It’s great because it’s also available to our families and our customers.”