Coronavirus drives Malawi tobacco farmers to brink

LILONGWE, Malawi: During his 15 years as a Malawian tobacco farmer, Boniface Namate has had to overcome many difficulties growing the plant that is the country’s biggest export earner. Namate had banked on a bumper crop this year and had hoped the proceeds would enable him to buy a new car and even build a new house. However, the coronavirus pandemic has seen the 56-year-old’s dreams go up in smoke.

Due to restrictions imposed to control the spread of the virus in Malawi – one of the world’s poorest countries, and one of the top 10 tobacco producers – growers were barred from physically attending the auctions where prices are set. That has left farmers feeling cheated by buyers. “We are not operating normally as there is no interaction between the buyer and the grower,” said Betty Chinyamunyamu of the National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi. “Because of this, there are trust issues,” she said.

When the auction season opened in April, Namate and other small-scale farmers said their earnings had indeed evaporated. “The prices that came from the auction are not what we expected. We are devastated”, said Namate. Burley leaf from Malawi makes up 6.6 percent of the world’s tobacco exports. Known locally as “green gold”, it is Malawi’s top crop in terms of employment.

It also accounts for over 50 percent of foreign exchange earnings and 23 percent of tax revenues. So, when its 50,000 growers suffer, the country has every reason to be worried. Last November, the United States restricted tobacco imports from Malawi over allegations of worker exploitation and child labor. And the coronavirus has turned up the heat on farmers even more.