Executive Summary

Malawi demonstrates one the lowest levels of tobacco control in Sub-Saharan Africa, having enacted almost no tobacco control legislation or regulations. It is also one of the largest producers of tobacco leaf on the continent and in the world. Not surprisingly, it has not signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). However, prospects for policy change may be brighter than one might expect under these circumstances because there is a very active civil society–based tobacco control movement and the presence of the tobacco manufacturing industry is limited compared to most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The tobacco industry, in the form of the usual players such as British American Tobacco (BAT), does not appear to be a major economic and/or political player. Malawians are generally very poor and prevalence rates are relatively low, so revenues from manufactured tobacco products are limited and the large fi rms have mostly stayed away from this country. Instead, it is the leaf-purchasing companies that wield signifi cant political and economic power. To date, these companies have not had to face substantial tobacco control measures. It is diffi cult to anticipate how much resistance any new measures might face from these groups and others (particularly agricultural organizations). There is, however, already general resistance to tobacco control measures from some key parts of the government because of the economic signifi cance of tobacco leaf; the product generates greater than 60–70 percent of export exchange depending on the year.