Sowing the Status Quo

Tobacco farmers in Malawi want to diversify their crops and increase their incomes. As global demand for tobacco wanes, that means not relying solely on growing tobacco to make ends meet.

Several large tobacco companies and their affiliates offer crop diversification programs, but these industry-driven programs just maintain the status quo and do not help Malawi’s tobacco farmers.

Researchers spoke with 160 farmers and 14 key informants with connections to tobacco cultivation in Malawi. According to many, industry-led programs are a lose-lose: Farmers may end up earning less and becoming more indebted—leaving them even more dependent on growing tobacco.

“Even when the farmer has all the inputs, we are forced to take the inputs on loan from the [tobacco leaf-buying company]. They are supposed to give us a choice to take the loan or not, but it is mandatory, and this gets us into unwanted debts.”
— Farmer from Mchinji

Insiders say industry-led diversification programs are more about improving tobacco companies’ reputations, not about making an actual impact.