From the next growing season, leaf merchants will no longer be allowed to grow their own tobacco in Malawi, the Maravi Post reported.

President Peter Mutharika declared this during a tour to the north of the country. According to the report, Mutharika complained about the prices offered by leaf buyers to independent farmers. He is sad to see that the farmers are still swimming in poverty because the tobacco buyers are paying poor prices. “Tobbacoo buying companies will not be allowed to grow tobacco because they are stealing from the farmers. They grow their own tobacco and buy just a little from us. They even go to the extent of rejecting some. They will not grow the tobacco so that they are forced to buy from farmers. This will start from this year,” Mutharika was quoted as saying.
In Malawi tobacco is a major component of the national economy. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO, the southeast African country is one of the ten largest tobacco producers in the world, producing 118 million tonnes of tobacco in 2013.