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Tobacco sales resumed Tuesday with buyers offering higher prices than those offered before suspension on Monday last week.
Tobacco Association of Malawi (Tama) president Albert Kamulaga in an interview yesterday said the lowest price was 80 cents per kilogramme with US$ 1.40 as the highest.
The price range at the time of the suspension on Monday was 70 cents to US$ 1.20 per kg.
Kamulaga said the farmers are still not satisfied with the prices.
“This being the first day, fine, but the prices are not very good. We hope things will change since they have promised us better prices,” he said.
Yesterday’s resumption of sales followed protracted discussions among stakeholders after the auction was indefinately stopped when farmers protested against poor prices.
The stakeholders agreed that sales resume only on condition that the leaf be bought in consideration of the cost of its production.
Tobacco Control Commisssion (TCC) general manager Godfrey Chapola said the stakeholders signed a statement of agreement with TAMA, National Small Holder Farmers Associaion (Nasfam) and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Some of the notable issues the stakeholders have agreed on are that the prices should be offered in such a way that the farmers will be able to make profits, the prices will be offered according to the cost of production.
They have also agreed that there should be no violence of any sort by farmers when raising a complaint and that they should follow the recommended procedure, which entails going through Tama.
Chapola described the results of the discussions as a “good compromise”.
“The basic principle is cost of production and we expect the buyers to be offering the prices bearing in mind the prices our research institution, Agriculture Research Extension Trust, (Aret) came up with after conducting a price survey,” he said.
He emphasised that the TCC will make sure the leaf is sold at favourable prices.
“If we observe that there is a diversion of what we’ve agreed, we are going to stop the sales,” Chapola said.
Minister of Agriculture Gwanda Chakuamba yesterday visited the auction floors to witness the resumption of sales and talk to the farmers. He was, however, unable to talk to them since they were not there.
The Limbe Auction floors is expected to open today after it was closed the same day before auction started.
The controversy over tobacco prices has come when the country is desperately in need of forex.
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