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Malawi tobacco growers body wants more registration centres

The number of tobacco farmers is expected to increase this year
The number of tobacco farmers is expected to increase this year

The Tobacco Association of Malawi (Tama) says the registration of farmers for the forthcoming season is progressing well, but has asked authorities to extend the exercise to other areas to accommodate more tobacco farmers.

There has been an increased interest in farmers to grow the leaf, the country’s principal export crop which wires in more than 60 percent of foreign exchange earnings.

In the just ended season, Malawi produced about 168 million kilogrammes of tobacco, up from the previous year’s [2012] 79 million kg and raked in $362 million [K141 billion, at the current exchange rate] in earnings from $178 million [K69 billion] in 2012. The leaf, which sold at an average price of $2.15 [K838.50] per kg, excited farmers who smiled all the way to the banks.

Tama chief executive officer Graham Kunimba, who heads a grouping of more than 300 000 farmers, told Business News this week that with the increased interest there is need for more centres to register farmers simultaneously.

“We expect a tremendous improvement in the number of farmers growing the crop this year. However, we are worried that authorities have opened a few centres and this has forced most of them to travel long distances to register,” he said.

Last year, according to Kunimba, Tama had 26 000 clubs that registered to grow the crop, and they expect this year the number to swell to 30 000 clubs.

This means the number of farmers growing tobacco under Tama this year will peak at more than 300 000 since each club has between 10 to 15 farmers.

Kunimba, however, said there are internal challenges that have dogged the registration process that will have to be sorted out by the Tobacco Control Commission (TCC).

He could not mention them arguing they will be discussed with the tobacco regulatory body.

In an earlier interview, TCC chief executive officer Bruce Munthali indicated that registration is progressing well, and assured that all the farmers willing to grow the crop will have to be registered.

Next year’s demand for the crop has been put at 180 million kg, up from 160 million kg demanded by merchants last year.

But Munthali said TCC will strive to control any likely overproduction in the next growing season.

He said the 180 million kg trade requirement is a signal that demand for Malawi tobacco is still high despite ongoing threats from the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO—FCTC).

Industry experts have argued that despite demand for Malawi’s leaf being on the higher side than last year, there is need to be cautious to guard against overproduction, a development that could result in depressed prices, hitting farmers whose livelihoods depend of the leaf.

Tobacco is Malawi’s lifeline contributing 13 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP), the overall measures of the economy’s performance, 25 percent of tax revenue and employs more than 50 percent of Malawians directly or indirectly.

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