While some farmers described the opening prices as “not so bad,” most farmers said they felt robbed, given the current high cost of living and the expenses that tobacco farming demands.

“The offered prices are lower than what we expected: Everything has gone up following our currency’s devaluation, so we expected the leaf to fetch more than what we have witnessed today,” one farmer told The Southern African Times in an interview, as other farmers nodded in agreement.

However, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said during the opening that the tobacco marketing season has started “on a good note,” considering that the first batch of tobacco to be sold is typically of low quality.

“The tobacco that has fetched these prices of between 1 U.S. dollar and 3.20 U.S. dollars per kg is the bottom leaf, one close to the ground, and it is mostly disregarded in sales,” said Kawale. “If the lower leaf is fetching that much, we are hopeful that the actual leaf of good quality that is yet to be sold will fetch even more.”

The official opening of the 2024-2025 tobacco marketing season was presided over by the country’s President Lazarus Chakwera.

Chakwera described the tobacco farmers as the hub of the country’s economy, noting that they deserve better as the “green gold” is the chief earner of foreign exchange in the southern African country.

“The bottom leaf may not be the best, but I’m encouraged to see that the prices have gone up, in some cases, by more than 55 cents above the minimum price. That’s a good start,” the president told local media after the official opening of the market season.

Malawi is expected to increase tobacco production by 30.84 percent to 174 million kg this year, according to the Tobacco Commission, the country’s tobacco industry regulator.