Proceeds withheld from tobacco sold before August 14 this year will be paid to affected growers by Friday next week, industry regulator, the Tobacco Commission (TC), has said.
In a statement, TC says it withholds proceeds from tobacco sold above a grower’s allocated quota to ensure compliance with licensing requirements for excess volumes.
TC spokesperson Telephorus Chigwenembe said arrangements were already in place to facilitate payment of the proceeds.
Tama Farmers Trust President Abiel Kalima Banda welcomed the move.
“We would like to request the Commission to release the finances, maybe within a week, after the grower has lifted his or her excess tobacco so that the farmers should be able to use the finances,” he said.
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Agriculture policy analyst Tamani Nkhono Mvula rated the move as fair.
This comes amid a downward revision of Malawi’s tobacco production forecast, with the third-round crop estimate putting this year’s output at 155 million kilogrammes (kg), down from the earlier projected 196 million kg.
The revised figure is also below market demand, estimated at 170 million kg.
However, the earlier anticipated oversupply had already affected market sentiments, with buyers offering lower prices than last year since the start of the marketing season.
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Meanwhile, figures from AHL Tobacco Sales Limited show that Malawi has, this far, earned $273.6 million (K479 billion) from tobacco sales.
The earnings came from the sale of 137.7 million kg of all tobacco types, at an average price of $1.99 per kg.
As of August 14, 2026, tobacco earnings had declined by 41.4 percent to $272.2 million from $464.9 million recorded during the corresponding period last year.
Volumes also declined by 25.2 percent, from 182.4 million kg during the corresponding period last year to 136.5 million kg this year.
AHL attributed the decline to reduced tobacco inflows across all trading floors during the week under review.
