Malawi Farmers angered with Kwacha appreciation

Advertisement
Alfred Kapichira Banda

Farmers Union in Malawi (FUM) has expressed concern over the appreciation of the local currency against major currencies.

According to FUM, the appreciation is an embarrassment to local farmers who grow the country’s main export tobacco.

Alfred Kapichira Banda
Kapichira Banda: We are worried.

FUM president Alfred Kapichira Banda called upon government to consider protecting tobacco farmers in the country arguing that the trend will demotivate tobacco growers.

“When farmers started this agriculture season, kwacha was around K750 per American dollar, this means that farmers had to dig deep in the pockets to insure they have everything needed at hand, now we going towards a period of selling tobacco and Kwacha is now at K690 against one dollar.

“This means that we will be making a loss of close to one hundred kwacha per kilogram and if this country is to produce 2 million kilograms it means our farmers have lost a lot of millions,” said Banda.

Banda further urged government to consider approving tobacco prices that are fair to green gold farmers in the country.

“We feel that we are not respected. Prices are set with not us, we just get it on the media that we are to sell our tobacco at this price, I think it is high time that farmers are now to sit down together and have a minimum price together,” added Banda.

Malawi relies heavily on tobacco production and sales to support its economy. Experts believe this reliance contributes to Malawi’s vulnerable economic position on the global level.