Malawi’s tobacco earnings have taken a brutal hit, with billions disappearing from the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner.
The country has earned K489.5 billion from sales in the 19 weeks of the 2026 Tobacco marketing season, a sharp K377.6 billion drop from the K867.1 billion recorded during the same period last year.
The latest figures from the Tobacco Commission show that the decline has been driven by both lower tobacco volumes and weaker prices.
By the end of the 19th week, farmers had sold 142.4 million kilogrammes of tobacco, down from 197.2 million kilogrammes during the corresponding period in 2025.
In US dollar terms, earnings stood at US$282.5 million, compared with US$500.4 million last year.
The average price also fell from US$2.54 per kilogramme in 2025 to US$1.98 per kilogramme this season.
That represents an average price of about MK3,431 per kilogramme, compared with approximately MK4,402 per kilogramme last year, based on the exchange rate used in the Commission’s figures.
Contract farming continued to dominate the market, accounting for more than 93 percent of all tobacco sold during the period.
However, auction tobacco continues to face serious challenges, with the Commission reporting that 50.95 percent of all auction bales offered were rejected.
The overall rejection rate across the market stood at 9.32 percent.
Tobacco Commission Public Relations Officer Telephorus Chigwenembe told Malawi 24 that the performance of contract tobacco continues to outpace auction tobacco.
He said the Commission is working to prevent auction marketing from dying out by introducing an initiative called “Know Your Farmer.”
According to Chigwenembe, the initiative will help the Commission understand where auction tobacco comes from and how it is processed before reaching the market.
He said the move follows concerns from buyers over the source and processing of auction tobacco, which they believe could be contributing to the high rejection rate.
Burley remained the dominant tobacco type, accounting for 88.8 percent of total sales.
It fetched an average of US$1.90 per kilogramme, equivalent to about MK3,293/kg, which was four percent below the national average.
Flue-Cured Virginia accounted for 10.4 percent of total sales and performed better, averaging US$2.64/kg, or approximately MK4,575/kg.
NDDF and SDF together accounted for less than one percent of total sales but recorded prices above the national average.
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