commission moves to boost tobacco output
Faced by a decline in tobacco output, tobacco market regulator Tobacco Commission (TC) says it has taken the 2022/23 grower licencing exercise to tobacco growing areas to boost output and promote compliance.
Malawi has in recent years been expected to supply up to 140 million kilogrammes (kg) of tobacco to the international market, but production has been falling short in the past three years.
In 2020 and 2021, the country produced 114 and 123 million kg of tobacco, respectively while in the 2022 season, the county produced 86 million kg.
TC spokesperson Telephorus Chigwenembe said in an interview yesterday the regulator has, among others, reviewed the registration exercise to make it more convenient for some farmers who found it expensive and time-consuming to travel from their areas to the divisional offices.
He said: “Since its rollout on June 6, the licensing exercise has been restricted to the regulator’s offices in Lilongwe, Kasungu, Mzuzu and Limbe and this has limited farmers to be licensed, a development which affected output previously.
“The commission also recently found out that some farmers were not aware that it is illegal for them to grow tobacco without getting licensed, as such, they were left out. Now we want to bring sanity in the industry and ensure that farmers are producing more.”
Chigwenembe said the field licensing exercise, which rolls out today in all the three regions in the country, will be conducted alongside registration and licensing at the TC’s divisional offices for two weeks.
He said the commission has so far licensed 89 million kg of tobacco against the 140 million kg demand for the 2022/2023 season.
Said Chigwenembe: “By taking the licensing exercise closer to farmers, the commission hopes to motivate growers to comply with the law governing tobacco farming in the country, in the process boost output.
“Other than this, the raise in the minimum production quota for clubs from 3 000 to 5 000 kg also gives us hope we would meet the growers demand.”
He said the regulator’s long-term strategy is to continue to bring more buyers, with the hope that with more buyers on the market, competition will be high, which will lead to better prices and attract more farmers.
Stakeholders in the industry have since welcomed the field licensing exercise, saying it will go a long away in reaching out to farmers who were left out due to lack of knowledge and logistical issues.
Meanwhile, Tama Farmers Trust president Abiel Kalima Banda is optimistic that farmers will save money because of this exercise as they were required to travel TC’s offices to register.
He said: “It has not been easy for farmers to travel long distances just to get licensed. It has been a long time coming and we are happy that TC has finally thought of this because a lot of famers got discouraged with the cumbersome processes and decided to quit tobacco farming.
“The reviewed minimum quota for farmers is also a welcome development, which means more revenues for farmers, all factors being constant.”
This year, the country realised roughly $180 (about K184.3 billion) from 89 million kg from tobacco sales
In the 2021 marketing season, cumulatively the country earned $197.1 million (about K204.1 billion) from 123.7 million kg of tobacco with the seasonal average price of all tobacco types at $1.59 (about K1 647.24) per kg, compared to $1.53 (about K1 585.08) per kg recorded during the same period in 2020.
Currently, the Malawi tobacco market has nine buyers which include Limbe Leaf, Alliance One, Premium Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International, Malawi Leaf, Associated Central African Limited, African Tobacco Services, Watergen and Voedsel.
