SITTING ON A TIME BOMB

Today, I want to talk tobacco. I just do not know why the whole nation is refusing to see the writing on the wall. You see, the World Health Organization is not relenting in its anti-smoking campaign. The demand for tobacco is generally falling, and our supply keeps on increasing. I am sure all honest Malawians will agree with me that save for the 2008 growing season where some very few tobacco bales were bought at eleven dollars albeit suspiciously, farmers have had to make do with very poor prices in the past five years.I am not so sure if anyone really cares that this situation is fast degenerating into a very unmanageable situation. Realistically, Malawi needs to be thinking of alternatives and start promoting them now. Sadly there is much talk from the government on the alternatives and very little is being done to promote these. We may be sitting on a ticking bomb and surely if we do not move away, it’s going to blow us away very soon.Initiatives like lake of stars are good for our country, but we needed more of such initiatives with sound infrastructure and manufacturing industry can easily replace tobacco money. There are just so many initiatives but the tourism one seems easy and straight forward. with a very good marketing I believe our country has so much potential to move forward. Thus as we reflect on the just ended tobacco season, lets also see the writing on the wall and start doing making exit points. We have to slowly shift from tobacco to another crop within the next five to ten years. If we can't, then we won’t until the bomb we are sitting on explodes.