Malawi’s tobacco industry: Economic boon but an environmental bane
It would be highly ironic for celebrations like 'No Tobacco Day' on May 31 each year to be given any prominence at all in a country like Malawi. The reason is simple. Tobacco accounts for about 60 percent of the country’s export earnings. This legacy dates back to the colonial era.
Global efforts at ensuring the complete eradication of tobacco and its related final products are rife. The success of this initiative, however, would mean stifling about a quarter of Malawi’s economy.
Malawi's 'green gold'
Malawi's rural areas are an epitome of traditional tobacco fields passed down through generations. Farmers usually adopt traditional means of cultivating the crop.
Malawi’s economy is tied to the tobacco industry which means that it is one of the countries in the world most dependent on tobacco earnings. Income derived from the tobacco industry is called “green gold.”
Malawi became the world’s leading exporter of tobacco at a point after surpassing countries like the USA. Rural households in Malawi heavily rely on the income from tobacco sales and exports, a World Bank report indicated.
In 2018, the country harvested 95,356 tonnes of tobacco. The country is also famed for being one of the largest producers of burley tobacco – one of the high-quality variants of the crop. In 2023, the country recorded a massive boost in the sale of the herb up to 55 per cent leaf-growing, representing about $282 million, Tobacco Tactics reported.
Balancing economic growth and environmental conservation
Forest loss, deforestation, and increase in atmospheric carbon are a few of the reasons climate change advocates want Malawi’s government to find alternative means of building their economy.
In 2015, the Agric Minister, Allan Chiyembekeza, briefly addressed the issue. “Tobacco does not stand alone in this. Other habits derived from the consumption of agricultural products are dangerous. Alcohol is addictive and leads to even higher social costs than tobacco consumption, sugar added to food leads to diabetes and obesity, and butter leads to increased cholesterol. We cannot accept the discrimination and we need to stand united and resist it,” Chiyembekeza is quoted by the Guardian.
From 1990 to 2010, Malawi experienced an annual average forest cover loss of 32,950 hectares, equivalent to 0.85%. In the overall timeframe, the country's forest cover diminished by 16.9%, approximately 659,000 hectares.
From field to market
In order to make the tobacco leaves suitable for export, they are taken through a curing process. This process involves carefully drying and ageing the harvested tobacco leaves to enhance flavour, reduce bitterness, and develop the desired aroma. Small-scale farmers in Malawi cure their tobacco by using fire, “where open wood fires are kindled on the floor of a curing barn and the curing process can either be continuous or intermittent, extending three to ten weeks before the leaf can be cured to the desired finish and ready for the market,” Nyasa Times reported.
Legislative gaps and challenges
In Malawi, there is no legislation specifically enforcing tobacco control policies. The regulation of tobacco cultivation, wholesale transactions, sales, and exports is done according to the Tobacco Act while the Consumer Protection Act theoretically has the potential to restrict deceptive tobacco advertising.
Internationally, Malawi is not a signatory to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). Malawi currently does not have a comprehensive tobacco control programme, which includes the absence of legislation on smoke-free areas or limitations on tobacco advertising, promotion, packaging, and sales.
In 2018, the Malawian Parliament passed the Tobacco Industry Bill to update the Tobacco Act (1970) and prevent the exploitation of farmers by tobacco companies.
The journey towards sustainable agriculture
Malawi's government has since 2021 indicated its willingness to initiate plans to diversify the Malawian economy to include more environmentally friendly crops.
“We need an exit strategy to transition our farmers to crops that are more sustainable and more profitable…I am therefore calling on the Ministry of Agriculture to begin consultations with all stakeholders to come up with a timeframe within which Malawi’s economy will be completely weaned from tobacco,” President Lazarus Chakwera is quoted by the Tobacco Reporter.
