Tobacco renders farmers poorer

Buyers in Malawi are making tobacco farmers poorer, according to one farmer quoted in a story by Dibie Ike Michael for Africa News.

While the government had established minimum prices for tobacco, buyers continued to pay less than the stipulated auction prices, the story said.

And while some companies had begun contracting individual farmers to produce the crop, some farmers, such as Benson Chisi, said they were not making as much as they would have if they had taken their crops to the auction floors.

“The sales under the contract system are not rewarding at all,” said Chisi. “It used to be profitable when we were selling on auction because we were all selling at the same place and the buyers would compete for a higher price. But now with the contract system, the buyers are really reaping from us. They are making us poorer.”

Mark Ndipita, the Southern Africa bureau chief of the Southern Africa Farm Radio Weekly, was quoted as saying it was unlikely that farmers would see much profit from tobacco this year. It was not a good picture in terms of revenue for the government and it was not good in terms of tobacco farmers who relied for their livelihoods on tobacco.

There are wider problems, too, caused by a drought that has hit much of southern Africa and that has caused severe problems in Malawi, where half of the population has been affected and is in need of food aid.

Tobacco accounts for more than 60 percent of Malawi’s exports and 15 percent of its gross domestic product but the situation is precarious.

“It is common sense that this industry is on the verge of collapse,” said farmer Martin Douglas. “The best that can happen is for government to just ask us to stop growing this crop and diversify. For me, this year is my last. I have given up growing tobacco and I am cultivating potatoes”