Minister Engages Buyers to Address Rising Tobacco Rejection Rates

Minister engages Tobacco companies to tackle high rejection rates at auction floors

Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Roza Mbilizi on Wednesday held a series of meetings with tobacco buying companies to address the high rejection rate at the auction floors.

During the meetings, Mbilizi said that no tobacco should be bought below the cost of production stressing that government has an obligation to protect farmers.

The Minister had discussions with the following companies: Nyasa Tobacco Buying Company, Limbe Leaf Tobacco Company, Hail & Cotton Malawi Limited, Associated Central African Limited, JTI Leaf Malawi Limited, Premium Tobacco Malawi Limited, African Tobacco Services and Alliance One Tobacco Company.

The companies committed to fulfilling their contractual obligation by purchasing all contracted tobacco and also buying additional volumes through the auction system.