Malawi’s 2026 tobacco season fetches K494 billion — sharply down from last year

Malawi’s 2026 Tobacco Marketing Season has fetched US$282.5 million from 142.4 million kilogrammes sold over the first 19 weeks of trading, according to the Tobacco Commission (TC).

Malawi’s 2026 Tobacco Marketing Season has fetched approximately K494 billion (US$282.5 million) from 142.4 million kilogrammes sold over the first 19 weeks of trading, according to the Tobacco Commission (TC).

The figures, contained in a statement signed by TC Publicist Telephorus Chigwenembe and released under the theme “Our Tobacco Our Economy,” show a significant decline from the US$500.4 million realised from 197.2 million kg sold during the same period in 2025.

The national average price also fell, dropping from $2.54 per kilogramme last year to $1.98 per kilogramme this season.

Contract farming continued to dominate tobacco sales, accounting for more than 93 percent of total volume sold, the statement noted.

Burley remained the leading tobacco type, making up 88.8 percent of total sales and fetching an average price of $1.90 per kilogramme — around 4 percent below the national average.

Flue-Cured Virginia accounted for 10.4 percent of total volume and commanded a significantly higher average price of $2.64 per kilogramme, some 39 percent above Burley.

NDDF and SDF together made up less than 1 percent of volume, but both traded above the national average, fetching $2.18 and $2.27 per kilogramme respectively.

On rejections, the statement indicated the overall rejection rate for the 19-week period stood at 9.32 percent. Rejection rates were notably higher for auction tobacco, where 50.95 percent of all bales offered were turned away.

Commenting on the figures, economic commentator Dr Ben Dzolowere described the season’s low turnover as a wake-up call for the country to diversify its economic base rather than continuing to over-rely on tobacco.

He said government needed to support the growth of other industries to boost broader economic development, while also calling for greater government support for value addition within the tobacco sector itself.