Malawi’s tobacco revenue up 40% despite drought

Malawi recorded a 40% increase in sales of tobacco, its biggest export commodity, in the 2024 selling season, despite an El Nino-induced drought, the country’s industry regulator said on Saturday.

The Malawi Tobacco Commission (TC) said sales volumes had increased 10% during the season, which runs from April to August. Malawi is one of the biggest producers of burley tobacco in the world.

The TC said in its final season report that sales from the leaf increased to $396.28 million, up from $283.76 the previous year. Over the same period, volumes increased to 133.1 million kilograms from 120.5 million kilograms.

“This represents a substantial surge. The increase in sales volume, revenue and the average price per kilogram indicates a strong and positive performance compared to the previous year,” the TC said.

Despite the drought, which hit most of Malawi’s agricultural output, especially the staple food maize, the tobacco crop proved resilient, helping the country to profit from a surge in global demand.

“Global demand is high due to consecutive calamitous weather impacts in major producing countries,” said Limbani Kakhome, a spokesperson for Japan Tobacco Leaf, one of the commodity’s top buying companies in Malawi.