JTI Leaf (Malawi) Limited says it will stop buying tobacco from farmers who by 2025 will not be curing their leaf in live barns.
The company’s managing director John Gauna said this on Friday when they conducted live barns maintenance at Chitukula in Lilongwe as part of fostering sustainable tobacco production.
He said tree-planting and management is at the core of JTI Leaf’s sustainable business model to ensure long-term supply of quality leaf.
Gauna said JTI Leaf is promoting the use of live barns to reduce reliance on natural woodlands for construction materials and carbon emissions in the tobacco production chain.
He said: “We have made it a policy that JTI will not buy tobacco from any individual grower who is not interested in growing, taking care of trees as well as using live barns.
“Trees are part of the tobacco crop. No trees no tobacco and therefore no contract with us.”
Gauna said JTI Leaf has taken a position that all current and potential growers must plant, manage, roof and use live barns as a condition for a contract.
He said tobacco cures in a live barn like in a natural environment, adding that quick cured tobacco is not desirable and fetches lower prices on the market.
“Live barns influence quality, reduce labour costs and result in increased farmer returns,” said Gauna.
A representative of growers, Ganizani Fulu, said he has been using live barns since last year.
He admitted that conventional tobacco barns were regularly depleted by termites, thereby incurring costs for maintenance.
Fulu said live barns are cost-effective and easily adjustable as the tree grow
He said: “The tobacco cured from live barns is always of high quality because it is not affected by impacts of the sun since the trees provide a thorough shed apart from the actual roofing.
“I urge fellow tobacco farmers to use live barns because apart from cost savings, we are also conserving the environment.”
JTI Leaf Malawi introduced the live barn concept in 2013 and nine years down the line, the firm has planted 7.6 million trees, translating in 39 914 live barns.
Out of these barns, 4 778 are operational and the company has recorded an 84 percent survival rate. Tobacco still remains Malawi’s main foreign exchange earner, bringing in 60 percent of the country’s forex earnings and contributes about 13 percent to the economy.
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