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Customary rights and societal stakes of large-scale tobacco cultivation in Malawi

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Abstract

The recent surge in land-based investments in the global South has been seen as both an opportunity for rural economic development and as a trend that poses significant social and environmental risks. This study sheds light on this debate through a look at the tobacco industry in Malawi. We employ a case study approach to investigate how rights, property, and authority associated with land and forest resources have shifted in the context of expanded investments in tobacco, and the stakes for both local land users and citizens. Findings point to the need to broaden the metric of risks and trade-offs associated with large-scale land acquisitions, and to engage in a deeper reading of how these are borne out throughout history.

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Notes

  1. De Schutter (2011) highlights three such costs: reduced poverty alleviation potential, increasing country vulnerability to price shocks through the orientation towards export markets, and accelerated development of land markets with potentially destructive effects on livelihoods.

  2. Group discussion with Forestry Officers, Kasungu, 12 October 2009.

  3. Calculated from data provided by Dorward and Chirwa (2011) and end-of-year exchange rates.

  4. According to Mangisoni (2005), tobacco directly or indirectly supported between 7 and 8 million people per year from 2000 to 2005.

  5. Following policy reforms in 1990 s, smallholders began to dominate the industry, with the average size of tobacco farms being 1.0 ha and the average tobacco field 0.2 ha. Only China rivals Malawi in this regard among major producer countries (Jaffee 2003).

  6. This contrasts with figures provided during an October 2009 interview with the Tobacco Control Commission, which gave a figure of 15 %, which would suggest the economic importance of the sector to GDP is on the decline. The agricultural sector as a whole contributes about 39 % to the country’s GDP and 90 % to its foreign exchange earnings (MAFS 2010).

  7. A study by the European Commission, World Health Organization and the World Bank (EC et al. 2003) which explored the economic effects of tobacco control on national economies (benefits from employment and income, tax revenue and foreign exchange, and costs associated with public health costs) found that most nations would experience net economic gains if their demand for tobacco products fell, because economic losses would be offset by economic gains at household and national levels. However, Malawi is unique among those countries studied in the contribution of tobacco to total export revenues, the tobacco trade surplus, and low levels of domestic consumption (and related health costs).

  8. Flue-cured tobacco, which requires higher investments in processing, is grown primarily by medium and especially large-scale estates (Jaffee 2003).

Abbreviations

ADMARC:

Agricultural development and marketing cooperative

FMB:

Farmers Marketing Board

GDP:

Gross domestic product

NTFP:

Non-timber forest product

STA:

Sub-traditional authority

TA:

Traditional authority

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Acknowledgments

This study was conducted through the financial support of the European Commission. The views expressed in this article can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union. The Forest Department, through the Forest Research Institute of Malawi, provided invaluable support by seconding Henry Utila and Martin Nthenda to participate in the study. We also thank district forestry officials and the communities in respective areas of Kasungu and Mchinji for their cooperation.

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  1. Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, University of Illinois, 256 Computing Applications Building, 605 East Springfield Avenue, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA

    Alois Mandondo

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, 250 Baldwin Hall, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Laura German

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  1. Alois Mandondo
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Mandondo, A., German, L. Customary rights and societal stakes of large-scale tobacco cultivation in Malawi. Agric Hum Values 32, 31–46 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-014-9514-6

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