Tobacco Farmers Cry Foul as Buyers Offer Rock-Bottom Prices at Malawi's Auction Floors

Thousands of smallholder tobacco farmers across Malawi are facing a crisis at the auction floors, as buyers continue to offer prices that many say do not even cover the cost of production — let alone provide a decent livelihood. The Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) has called on the President to intervene in the ongoing situation at the tobacco market, where buyers are reported to be offering low prices for the crop, according to a statement released by the union and signed by president Maness Nkhata. Tobacco remains Malawi's most significant export crop, often described as the backbone of the country's economy. For hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers, the tobacco season represents months of hard labour, significant financial investment, and the primary source of income for the entire year. When prices collapse at the auction floors, the consequences for rural households are devastating. Farmers have reported receiving offers significantly below what they need to recover their input costs — fertiliser, pesticides, labour, and transport. Many are being forced to either accept the low prices or take their tobacco home, a decision that risks the crop deteriorating further and the farmer losing everything. Industry observers have pointed to several factors driving the low prices, including an oversupply of lower grades of tobacco, declining global demand for cigarettes in traditional markets, and the growing influence of a small number of dominant international buyers who wield significant pricing power on Malawi's auction floors. Agricultural economists and civil society groups have long argued that Malawi must accelerate its economic diversification away from tobacco dependency, but with few viable alternatives yet at scale, millions of rural families remain deeply vulnerable to the whims of international commodity markets every season. The Farmers Union is now urging government to engage buyers directly, introduce minimum price guarantees, and strengthen farmer negotiating power before the current season ends with more losses than gains.