Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Mwanza assured growers tobacco is in no danger of being unseated as the country’s major crop, despite global anti-tobacco campaigns, the Maravi Post reported.

Mwanza promised vigorous government support for tobacco growers. He also said more must be done to improve the grower registration process and to protect growers from unscrupulous associations, the newspaper said in a story on its website. The minister spoke at the annual congress of the Tobacco Association of Malawi (TAMA). Malawi was the world’s leading burley producer in 2010, the newspaper said.