By Vincent Gunde
In what many tobacco growers thought that the 2024-2025 tobacco season will end on a good note looking at the 16th September, 2025 General Elections coming, the opposite has been seen on the opening day at the Lilongwe Auction Floors on Wednesday.
Tobacco grower’s protests over prices started before President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera arrived to preside over the opening of the 2024-2025 season where some growers were heard speaking on top of their voices that the President must not come in the floors on the claims that there are no sales.
Some growers were seen protesting from the stands where they were allocated for the first time in the history of tobacco sales that they must not stand very close to their bales unlike in the previous tobacco seasons.
For years of tobacco sales, growers were being allowed to stand behind the sales team that whenever they have seen the price offered not in their interest, they used to write on the label “no sale” meaning that the tobacco bales will come again for sale the following day.
On the opening day of this year’s tobacco auction sales, most of the bales were bought at $1.35 with a few bales bought at $3.20, the prices were greeted with anger leading to the temporary suspension of the tobacco sales.
Mrs. Lizinet Kapakasa, a farmer from Nambuma in Dowa, said the prices which were being offered on the very first day of tobacco sales were not satisfactory considering that tobacco farmers had invested a lot to come up with the quality leaf.
Kapakasa has expressed fears that if the tobacco prices will be left unchecked with the low prices being offered, many farmers would end up terminating their lives by either hanging themselves on to trees or taking poison.
She said tobacco farmers were provided with NEEF loans saying recovery of this money will be a challenge as farmers will be registering loses at the Auction Floors, they will not have an opportunity of repaying this loan and paying tenants in the field.
“Many tobacco farmers were happy with the price which were offered last year, and this year, they invested a lot with the campaign fever for votes that prices will be better than they were in the last growing season,” she said.
“Fertilizer bought at K145,000 per bag, labour, devaluation of the local currency, buying a bale of tobacco at $1.20 is an insult to the farmer,” said Kapakasa.
She has appealed to President Chakwera to intervene in the tobacco prices, saying farmers are looking at him as the only hope to come to their knees observing that these farmers are registered voters and their votes can play an impact to his bouncing back into government on the 16th September, 2025 elections.
