The cotton marketing season officially closed this week, with the industry recording about 4 500 metric tonnes (MT) of production, representing just 20 percent of the projected 22 800MT.
This means this year’s cotton output has dropped by 55 percent from around 10 000MT last year, raising fears that recent efforts to revamp the sector, which is deemed critical to the industrialisation drive, have not yielded the desired results.
In separate interviews after the 90-day season officially closed on August 23 2026, both the Cotton Council of Malawi and the Cotton Farmers Association (Cofa) confirmed the market closure but did not disclose the factors behind the slump in production.
In an interview on Wednesday, Cotton Council of Malawi executive director Apatsa Selemani confirmed that the council had communicated the market closure to the industry, saying that although some outlets might be making clearance sales, they would not significantly alter the final figures.
“Yes, the season officially closed. We gave exemptions to a few outlets, such as those in Mchinji, where the season usually starts late, but we don’t expect the figures to significantly change,” he said.
Selemani did not disclose the factors behind the drastic production drop, which is 80 percent below the initial 22 800MT projection, referring us to council spokesperson Prisca Jamali, who did not respond to our questionnaire.
However, Malawi Cotton Company field manager Yohane Jim attributed the low production levels to a reduction in the number of farmers who grew cotton this year, following frustrations from last season’s experiences.
“Production this year is very low because out of the 26 000 farmers that grew cotton last season, only 7 000 have grown it this year,” he said.
According to Jim, this was partly because farmers were affected by technical challenges experienced in the Cotton Management Information System, a digital platform introduced by the council to modernise and track the country’s cotton market operations.
“The electronic payment system had some technical challenges that resulted in some farmers experiencing delays in getting their payments, while others did not receive them at all,” he said.
Cofa president Labson Zidana, who confirmed that all markets had closed, described the season as mixed, noting that buyers offered the government-set minimum price of K1 500 per kilogramme (kg), while decrying the low output.
“In terms of marketing, the season has progressed well. On average, the prices were within the farm-gate price of K1 500 per kg, which is fair.
“In terms of volumes, we are far from the projected 22 800MT. It should be around 5 000MT,” Zidana said.
This year, two of the four regular cotton-buying companies, Malawi Cotton Company and Masapa Cotton Ginners, did not participate, citing low production levels that could not make commercial sense for their businesses.
Industry experts have linked the cotton sector’s stunted growth to the Malawi Government’s lack of interest in boosting production through the provision of subsidised farm inputs, despite the country having a ginning capacity of 400 000MT.
In an interview, longtime cotton commercial farmer Duncan Warren recalled that since 2010, when the Bingu wa Mutharika administration financed production and achieved an output of 100 000MT, the country has only been producing around 10 000MT because of low investment.
He observed that, unlike other countries that have revamped the industry by subsidising genetically modified (GMO) cotton seed, Malawi has turned a blind eye to the opportunity, leaving farmers reliant on local varieties that offer low yields.
“Over the past four to five years, industry stakeholders have been providing the government with proposals to subsidise GMO cotton seed to boost production, but it shows that the government is clearly not interested in cotton.
“What is unfortunate is that the cotton value chain is very much linked to industrialisation and can easily complement efforts to solve the country’s forex challenges,” said Warren, who is also a former Cotton Council of Malawi chairperson.
During the opening of this year’s season on May 25, the Cotton Council of Malawi was optimistic that after producing around 10 000MT in 2025, production would hit 22 800MT in 2026 and 50 000MT in 2027 amid initiatives to revamp the sector.
