By Benadetta Chiwanda Mia:
Malawian farmers are facing challenges to diversify from tobacco to other cash crops, a report has revealed.
The report, titled ‘Sowing the Status Quo: How Crop Diversification Is Failing Tobacco Farmers in Malawi’, reveals that industry-led diversification programmes are ineffective, leaving smallholder farmers financially burdened and still dependent on tobacco cultivation.
Malawi ranks among the world’s top 10 tobacco producers, with the crop accounting for nearly half of its exports.
Yet, as global tobacco demand declines, the government has encouraged diversification into alternative crops.
However, the new report—which has been produced by Sustainable Development Initiative (SDI) in collaboration with Stop, a global tobacco watchdog—suggests that tobacco companies’ involvement in these efforts may be doing more harm than good.
The report, which surveyed 160 farmers and 14 key informants, found that diversification programmes initiated by players in the tobacco industry are largely superficial.
“The tobacco industry’s involvement in diversification creates financial strains on farmers, who take out high-interest loans to grow tobacco—as well as loans for alternative crops with no reliable markets,” the report says.
According to the report, farmers are encouraged to grow crops such as groundnuts and soybeans, yet many farmers struggle to find stable markets for such products.
According to the report, major tobacco firms—including British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International, and Philip Morris International—promote diversification initiatives as part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.
The findings suggest that the industry’s influence extends to government policy, with leaders hesitant to push for meaningful reforms due to economic reliance on tobacco exports.
Many farmers interviewed for the report described a cycle of debt and dependency perpetuated by the current system.
The report urges the Malawi Government to take control of diversification efforts and limit tobacco industry players’ involvement, redirecting financial support from the tobacco sector to sustainable farming programmes and strengthening agricultural extension services to help farmers transition effectively.
The report further highlights that with over 3.7 million smallholder farmers relying on agriculture for their livelihoods, the future of Malawi’s economy—and its food security—depends on a more sustainable and equitable agricultural model.
Agriculture policy expert Tamani Nkhono Mvula described current efforts towards tobacco diversification as more of “lip service” with little happening on the ground.
“If you look at markets for crops that farmers are being told to diversify into, you find that they [markets] are not developed because the main incentive for a farmer to leave a crop for another one is market availability.
“Now if there is no market for soybean or ground nuts, farmers that are growing tobacco will still find the tobacco attractive because they are assured of a market at the end of the day,” Nkhono Mvula said.
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