LILONGWE, April 13– The Malawian government predicted that the effects of extreme weather in Southern Africa could affect this year’s production in some tobacco-producing countries in the region, thereby driving tobacco demand in Malawi.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Sam Kawale made the observation in an interview with local media Thursday ahead of the official opening of the 2024 tobacco market season Monday.
In Malawi where tobacco exceeds 50 percent of goods exports, farmers are expected to produce 140 million kg in the 2024 season, 17 percent higher than the previous season’s 120 million kg.
Earlier projections had put the current year’s output to be 21 percent more than the previous year’s output, but this was recently revised downwards as several parts of Malawi experienced droughts.
“This year [demand] will even be more due to the effects of climate change which have affected production in the region and this is going to benefit farmers in Malawi,” said the minister.
The Malawian minister also said he expected new tobacco-buying companies to participate in this year’s tobacco auction sales that are conducted in government-owned market facilities located in all the country’s three regions.
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