The Nyasaland Government has recently passed a Special Crops Bill and published 

 an ordinance implementing the bill. The "special crops" covered by the legislation in- 

 cluded crops grown by both European and Africans. Tobacco is one of the crops covered. 

 The ordinance created a Special Crops Authority which has far-reaching powers. The 

 Ordinance virtually puts all European agriculture under almost complete control, in- 

 cluding the tobacco estates operated by Europeans in Nyasaland. 



Tea, the largest cash export crop of Nyasaland, was not included as a "special crop"; 

 however, it nnight be included at a later date. 



Table 2 5. --NYASALAND: Exports of tobacco, by type, 1948-53 

 (before Federation) ■'• 



Year 



Flue-cured 



Fire-cured 



Sun-air 



Burley 



Total 

 all types 



1948 



1949 



1950 



1951 



1952 



1953 



Mil. lb. 



(^) 



2.1 

 2.7 

 2.6 

 2.3 



Mil. lb. 



17.8 

 19.1 

 17.8 

 19.3 

 13.7 

 17.9 



Mil. lb. 



3.2 

 3.0 

 3.5 

 3.8 

 2.6 

 3.8 



Mil. lb. 



0.6 

 .9 

 .7 



1.0 

 .8 



1.5 



Mil. lb. 



21.6 

 23.0 

 24.1 

 26.8 

 19.7 

 25.5 



Most of _ the tobacco bought in Nyasaland is exported. 



Not available. 



Dark Fire-Cured 



Both Europeans and the Africans have produced dark-fired tobacco for a good nnany 

 years. The quality of Nyasaland dark fire-cured varies with the size of the crop and the 

 season. In years when the crop is large, curing is often poorly done and quality suffers; 

 this is caused partly by the lack of adequate and satisfactory curing barns. Prices drop 

 in those years; growers are unhappy because of price, and the buyers are unhappy with 

 the lowey quality. 



Dr, J. O. Andes, University of Tennessee, did a study of the tobacco situation in 

 Nyasaland in February and March 1 962. Inhis report to the Minister of Natural Resources 

 of Nyasaland, Dr. Andes stated: 



"It appears that the single factor most responsible for poor quality dark-fired 

 tobacco is inadequate curing facilities. In fact, the cultural practices, either good or bad, 

 are nullified by capricious curing; hence it is not easy to assess the value of what is 

 assunned to be good practice." 



The dark fire-cured tobacco industry has another hurdle which will tend to keep 

 down any expansion in production and exports. The world demand for fire-cured tobacco 

 is linnited, and as light cigarettes increase in many world countries fire-cured tobacco 

 will have a smaller percentage share. 



In 1963, the Nyasaland Farmers' Marketing Board withheld 6 million to 7 million 

 pounds of fire-cured from the auctions in order to help maintain the price. It is reported 

 that the buyers were promised that the Board would not sell it to established markets but 

 would try to sell it to new markets. 



28 



