New Research Reveals Deepening Regional Inequalities in Malawi’s Tobacco Sector

A new study published in The European Journal of Development Research sheds light on major structural shifts within Malawi’s tobacco industry, revealing how evolving power dynamics are reshaping livelihoods and deepening regional inequalities.

The paper, authored by Lonjezo Masikini, Michael John Bloomfield and James Copestake, draws on extensive fieldwork across Central and Southern Malawi to analyse how the country’s once geographically dispersed tobacco economy has become increasingly concentrated in the Central Region. Meanwhile, production in the Southern Region has experienced a marked decline, signalling a profound reordering of Malawi’s agrarian landscape.

The authors argue that these changes represent a “diffuse power shift” rather than the result of decisions by any single actor. Leaf-buying companies, political elites and other stakeholders are pursuing overlapping, but not identical, interests—together reinforcing a new configuration of power within the sector. This restructuring, the study concludes, is intensifying corporate control over growers while worsening the economic divide between Malawi’s regions.

By offering a “meso‑level” perspective, the paper fills a gap between the more familiar micro‑level analyses of farmer livelihoods and macro‑level studies of national diversification. The authors warn that these structural transformations may limit opportunities for smallholder farmers, entrench dependency on corporate intermediaries and constrain prospects for more equitable rural development.

As global pressures push Malawi to diversify away from tobacco, this research highlights the need for policies that not only look beyond dependence on a single commodity but also address internal inequalities. Without such action, the benefits of restructuring may continue to flow upwards—while rural communities in the country’s south fall further behind.

As co-author Michael Bloomfield explains:

“This new configuration allows actors to claim diversification away from tobacco production when, in reality, it is diversification with tobacco production left intact (i.e., claiming diversification away from tobacco in the South, while the reality is it is simply regionally restructured with consolidated tobacco production in the Central region), which satisfies the needs of all the powerful actors.”

Read the paper:

• The Shifting Political Economy of Tobacco Production in Malawi, L. Masikini, M.J. Bloomfield, J. Copestake, Eur J Dev Res (2026), doi: 10.1057/s41287-025-00738-0

See the Tobacco Tactics pages:

• Malawi Country Profile
• Tobacco Farming
• Tobacco and the Environment

And see also the Tobacco Supply Chain database.