Quality issues in Malawi

Concerns have been expressed in Malawi about the quality of some of this season’s tobacco, though no official assessment has yet been made, according to a story in The Times.
The concerns center around a dry spell that has hit some tobacco growing regions.
The CEO of the Tobacco Control Commission (TCC), Kaisi Sadala, was quoted as saying the dry spell was a matter of concern, but he implied that there was still time for the rains to resume and make a difference to the crop.
“We are getting reports that, in some areas, the crop has started to wither,” Sadala said.
Meanwhile, the CEO of the Tobacco Association of Malawi, Matthews Zulu, said the association was assessing the situation “to give a true reflection on the ground”.
Zulu, too, implied that there was still time for the rain to make a difference, but he added that the current situation painted a gloomy picture of tobacco production this season.
The TCC says that the results of the first round of crop assessment will be ready by the end of this month.
Figures from the TCC show that, as of early December, 41,784 farmers had registered to grow 162 million kg, short of the buyer ‘demand’ for 171 million kg.
Even so, Sadala warned that farmers who were growing tobacco without having registered with the commission might find it difficult to sell their crops on the action floors.