Parliamentary Cluster Committee on Agriculture and Irrigation, Natural Resources and Climate Change has called for increased budget allocation to Cotton Council of Malawi from the proposed K1.78 billion in the 2026/27 fiscal year to K4.3 billion to help revamp the sector.
Chairperson Tiaone Hendry highlighted this in a report presented in Parliament on Friday following its scrutiny of the proposed K10.9 trillion 2026/27 National Budget allocation to the council.
She said, for instance, the council, which was allocated K1 billion in 2025/26 fiscal year that ends on March 31, has been allocated K1.78 billion in the forthcoming fiscal year, which is way below its K2.6 billion projected budget.
Hendry said to revamp the sector, the council needs more resources and allocation of budgetary funding of not less than K4 billion to subsidise cotton seed and strengthen extension services, among others.
She said: “The government must deliberately intensify support to the Cotton Council of Malawi, including subsidising input costs for farmers.
“The cluster noted that high seed prices driven by exchange rates and import taxes pose a major barrier to access.”
Hendry further observed that despite cotton sector’s output declining over the years, the industry has huge potential in terms of industrialisation and the crop ranks among key cash crops alongside tobacco, tea and sugarcane.
“As tobacco’s global appeal wanes due to anti-smoking campaigns, cotton could indeed serve as a vital alternative, driving industrialisation,” she said.
In an interview on Friday, agricultural policy expert Leonard Chimwaza said lack of political will, proper industry collaboration and weak regulatory environment are killing the cotton sector.
He said: “In 2009, cotton production improved because there was huge investment into the industry with more ginners coming in.
“But the political will has faded because the government has been seemingly reluctant to significantly invest in the sector.”
The cluster committee’s recommendations come at a time cotton output is expected to further decline this year to 3 000 metric tonnes (MT) from last season’s 6 000 MT following the drastic drop in the number of registered farmers.
The drop, according to Cotton Farmers Association of Malawi president Labson Zidana, follows frustrations among some farmers due to the rising cost of inputs and difficulties to access their payment because of technical challenges during the past season when the sector piloted digital payment systems.
Meanwhile, the country’s four cotton ginners Masapa, Malawi Cotton Company, Afrisian Ginners Limited and Admarc Limited have mostly been underutilising their ginning capacity due to low supply of the crop for the past 10 years.
