Agriculture policy expert Tamani Nkhono-Mvula says enforcing production quotas, strengthening grower monitoring and tightening compliance controls are critical to protecting the quality and marketability of Malawi’s tobacco on the global market.
He said in an interview on Monday that regulating output is vital for maintaining quality and market stability of a crop central to the country’s economy.
Nkhono-Mvula’s call comes on the back of Malawi surpassing tobacco buyers’ demand every year despite Tobacco Comission (TC) setting production quotas.
He said: “When farmers produce strictly according to their allocated numbers, they invest more towards the required quality.
“If we overproduce, there will be no buyers for the excess crop and if we underproduce, we lose potential revenue.”
TC spokesperson Telephorus Chigwenembe said in an interview that grower compliance extends beyond production volumes to broader agricultural practices.
“Compliance is mainly about adherence to standards of tobacco production, choice of seed, fertilisers, chemicals, type of labour used and environmental stewardship,” he said.
Chigwenembe noted that the Know Your Grower project will give the tobacco regulator detailed information about growers and their fields, including geo-tagged locations, making monitoring easier.
Malawi tobacco contributes about 50 percent of foreign exchange earnings and 13 percent of gross domestic product while the industry supports millions of people along its value chain.
