Chief Executive Officer of the Tobacco Association of Malawi (Tama), Felix Thole, has outlined that the persisting heavy rains  will negatively affect the tobacco industry, considering that such rains may affect the growth of the green gold.

Though disclosing that it is too early to make a conclusion, Thole explained that the rains pose a threat to tobacco harvests. The concern may be not only for the tobacco industry, as climate related obstacles also affected maize output last year. Players in the agricultural sector have been urged to implement climate-smart agriculture. During a national symposium on agro-ecology in Lilongwe last year, the Irish Ambassador to Malawi, Gery Cunningham has said Malawi needs to triple its investment in climate smart agriculture if it is to achieve a meaningful and sustainable economic growth.

Around the same time, Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) Malawi advised farmers in Mulanje District to practice climate smart agriculture, following the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services forecast that there would be heavy rains in some parts of the district and prolonged dry spells in other parts during this rainy season.

Meanwhile, players in agriculture are implementing diverse farming, considering that the main cash crops have been facing a decline in sales, due to various global factors. In effort to diversify Malawi’s agricultural output, Tobacco Association of Malawi (Tama), the largest grouping of tobacco growers, has rebranded into Tama Farmers Trust, taking on board other crop value chains in the process

The rebranding exercise follows the association’s 2019 Annual Congress which ratified that the institution be rebranded in the wake of the slowdown in the global tobacco consumption, among others. “Any farmer of any value chain can now be our member. We want to give attention to other value chains apart from tobacco. We will now diversify crop production and marketing to ensure that farmers sustain themselves economically,” said Tama Farmers Trust chief executive officer (CEO)Felix Thole.