By Alfred Chauwa
Business has come to a standstill at Lilongwe Tobacco Auction floors in Lilongwe this morning.
The market for the country’s gold leaf has been suspended over what farmers have claimed to be continued low prices on offer.
Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe, who also rushed to the floors when tipped, confirmed of the development, arguing that he found some buyers offering as low as 50Cents per kilo of the green gold which is below government’ set minimum prices for the crop.
Lowe has since argued the buyers to be inconsistent with the country’s laws in dealing with the farmers by offering improved prices for the leaf.
However, the buyers seem not ready to bulge as they insist that the leaf on offer is of low quality, hence even the offered 50 cents is just there as a ‘favour to the farmers’
