The contribution of tea and sugar to the country’s total exports have continued to drop over a 10-year period, leaving tobacco as the main export commodity supporting the economy, National Statistical Office (NSO) data shows.
The NSO Statistical Year Book for 2023, which analyses the performance of the two crops from 2014, shows that output for tea has almost remained stagnant while that of sugar has markedly dropped.
For instance, data shows that tea exports, which were recorded at 48 200 metric tonnes (MT) in 2014, dropped to 46 900MT in 2020 and slightly increased to 49 400MT in 2022.
On the other hand, sugar exports have drastically dropped from 201 400MT in 2014 to 36 400MT in 2022.
The data further shows that between 2016 and 2019, tea contribution to exports was around 8.5 percent with total production recorded at 71 700MT while sugar output jumped to 283 000MT in 2015, with contribution to exports at nine percent.
However, tea and sugar contribution to exports was recorded at 2.7 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively, according to NSO data.
Reads the report in part: “Regarding exports, the main commodities were tobacco, which accounted for 68.8 percent of total exports, pulses at 15.4 percent and groundnuts representing 3.7 percent, tea 2.7 percent, sugar 0.9 percent and macadamia nuts at 0.7 percent.”
In an interview on Monday, Beatrice Makwenda, programme officer for Trust Africa, a key tea industry stakeholder that advocates for better collaboration between workers and companies, attributed the challenges to the effects of climate change.
She said: “The sector is suffering from climate change effects and as you remember, Cyclone Freddy weakened the already fragile sector thus resulting in reduced productivity.
“There is also need for public sector intervention such as the provision of extension service to workers in the tea plantation. Currently, we only see a lot of efforts from private sector players in the tea sector, but to achieve greater impact, we think there is need for additional efforts from the public sector to see the sector revamped.”
Illovo Sugar (Malawi) plc managing director Lekani Katandula said in an earlier interview that the Malawi Stock Exchange-listed sugar manufacturer targets to increase exports despite being affected by weather-related challenges in the past three years.
He said: “We have been exporting sugar for many years and we will continue to do so going forward. Our exports fall and rise with our production, which, in turn, is affected by weather events.
“If the weather is not extreme in the coming rainy season, then our exports will improve and in the long-term, we intend to grow our total sugar production and exports.”
In a separate interview on Monday, National Working Group on Trade Policy chairperson Fredrick Changaya said that Malawi needs to promote production of import substitutes as exporting continues to decline.
He said: “Produced goods also enjoy more value compared to commodities which suffer price volatility on the global market.
“It is important to start producing derivatives of our own crops such as cereals, and import substitution is key.”
Minister of Trade and Industry Sosten Gwengwe earlier said exports have improved in recent months because most exporters are now exporting value-added products rather than raw materials, adding that the National Export Strategy II is now producing results.
