Dry weather threatening Malawi’s tobacco harvest

Malawi’s Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) has suggested that dry weather so far this season could result in low tobacco yields across the country, according to a StarAfrica.com story.

Speaking in Lilongwe on Tuesday, TCC CEO Albert Changaya said most parts of the country had not received rain since December.

The crop’s volume could be “heavily affected” if the weather continued to be dry, he said, and this was worrying because the quality of the crop and, therefore, prices would be down as well.

Changaya said that an assessment team would be sent out next week to examine the situation, and that the results of that assessment would be expected by the end of January.

Tobacco accounts for more than 15 percent of Malawi’s GDP and the country depends on tobacco as its major exchange earner.