New tobacco registration system excites government

Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development George Chaponda has said government is keenly following the new system of registering tobacco growers touted to end multiple registration.

Tobacco stakeholders argued that the old system known as bioreg had many loopholes, enabling some growers to register more than once.

Due to this, the country has been overproducing the leaf crop over the years, a situation that has contributed to depressed prices and prolonged marketing.

In an interview on Monday in Lilongwe, Chaponda said government is delighted that the Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) and other tobacco players are handling the issue of growers’ registration very well.

He said: “I am happy to note that the industry is now implementing a new registration system, which is robust and grower-friendly. Government is following this development with interest so that the grower registration woes are eliminated once and for all. This is one area that government has not been happy with for some time.”

Chaponda said government will continue to work with all the industry players so that misunderstandings are sorted out and urged the stakeholders to have a common understanding.

TCC deputy chief executive officer David Luka confirmed in an interview on Tuesday they have embarked on a campaign to register farmers using a new system known as farmers’ management system (FMS), which was donated to government last year by tobacco buying companies.

He said the new system is expected to solve challenges that were dogging the sector because farmers will have all their thumbs entered into a computerised system.

Luka said: “This system will help us consolidate registration of names on a single modern database platform. It is designed to be more efficient and it will use fewer personnel to capture data.

“It will also be connected to AHL Group who are the main stakeholder in providing the market for tobacco in coordination with TCC,” said Luka.

He said the new system will be producing multiple reports and has robust security features, which can identify any user with ease.

Luka said TCC is allocating quotas to the growers depending on the international trade requirements.

A Lilongwe-based tobacco farmer, Hastings Phiri, said he is ready to grow tobacco next year because it is the only crop that brings him money. n