President Lazarus Chakwera says donor aid or debt relief cannot solve Malawi’s economic challenges.
He made the remarks today in Lilongwe when he officially opened this year’s tobacco selling season at Lilongwe selling floors.
Chakwera said Malawi will only be liberated economically if it increases the quantity, variety and quality of what it produces in order to generate more foreign exchange.
He also talked about the need to support tobacco farmers to increase productivity saying farmers are the main produce of forex producers in the country and if they stopped producing the crop today the economy would collapse.
According to Chakwera, the support should include buying produce at fair prices because unfair prices harm to the county’s economy.
“Buying the tobacco at decent prices motivates and empowers our tobacco growers to continue increasing the quality and quantity of their products going forward, which means it’s a win-win transaction. Additionally, by buying tobacco at fair prices, we encourage others to venture into farming as a productive and prosperous vocation, especially young people, whom we need to see more of in this sector.
“By young people, I mean youthful adults, not children, because the use of children and minors in any aspect of tobacco farming is a crime that my administration will not tolerate. What we want is to increase productivity in order to create wealth that will support the future of our children, not involving children in child labour that robs them of that future,” he explained.
In his remarks, Board Chairperson for Tobacco Commission, Commissioner Godfrey Chapola said that despite the recent loss of some tobacco to Tropical Cyclone Freddy in the southern region, the country projects a minimum of 126 million kilograms of Tobacco to be produced this year, representing a 50% increase over last year’s production.
A farmer from Kasungu district, Msaiwale Zakaliya, asked the president to suspend opening ceremony saying the prices are very low as much government should increase for the beneficiary of the farmers.
Zakaliya lamented that there is an increase for prices for other crops like Maize and Soya beans but tobacco prices remain low.
“What crime did we commit boss, other farmers are enjoying and benefitting from the same farming but us who are in tobacco farming are suffering. You cannot point even one person that he or she has benefitted from tobacco farming,” he explained.
On the first day of the 2023 selling season, the highest price on auction was $2.40 while Lowest price (auction) = $1.15
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