Malawi has banned maize exports and is considering restocking its national grain reserves after crop-eating armyworms and a drought left the country’s staple grain crop damaged. Mwanamvekha said in a statement read in parliament that nearly 2 million people were at risk of food shortages because of the effects of armyworms and drought. Impoverished Malawi is periodically hit by food shortages as the tropical southern African country relies heavily on rain-fed agriculture and most of its maize is grown on small plots by subsistence farmers.