Malawi tobacco output undershoots target

Malawi's tobacco output fell 26,000 tonnes short of the projected figure for the 2008/09 season due to bad weather and rampant smuggling, a senior official at the Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) said.

TCC General Manager Henderson Chimoyo, said in a report on Saturday that recorded production was 224,000 tonnes, below the projected 250,000 tonnes but still 26 percent higher than last year's harvest.

"Inadequate curing space, rampant smuggling of the crop into Mozambique and Zambia, and harsh weather has led to the drop (compared with forecasts) in tobacco output this year," Chimoyo said.

Tobacco is the southern African nation's main foreign exchange earner and accounts for more than 60 percent of exports and 15 percent of the gross domestic product.

Out of a population of 13 million, about 2 million Malawians rely on tobacco and related industries for their livelihood.

Malawi is the world's biggest producer of burley tobacco and in the last four years tobacco output has been rising, encouraged by good prices on auction floors.