Monday, December 26, 2011

Some Facts about Malawian Crops

Tea is grown extensively in Malawi, particularly in the South, and “is the second largest producer of tea in Africa after Kenya.
Malawi produced 41.6 million kilograms of tea in 2001, and the crop contributes, at least,7.9 percent of total export earnings.
Over 25 000 hectares of land is used for growing the crop in Thyolo and Mulanje districts, mainly grown for its green leaf which is processed into black tea.

Macadamia Nuts. Malawi produces an average of 5 metric tonnes of macadamia nuts every year, with the crop forming part of the country's crop arsenal.
The current total area for macadamia cultivation is 2,200 hectares, used for both small-scale and large-scale cultivation.
These nuts are taken from the field and, then, shelled and hulled through factory processing. These ( shell and hull) are the waste products, though experts say they have proven to be most effective in a thermal process due to their high calorific value of around 10 000BTU/lbs.

Tobacco: Malawi produced a record 124.7 million kilograms of tobacco in 2001, and the crop continues to account for 70 percent total exports and it has continued to dominate the trade returns for Malawi.

Maize: Maize is a staple food in Malawi so it is likely that current figures are relatively similar. This gives an idea of the quantity of maize that Malawians consume, especially as Malawi is generally a net importer of maize.
In the 2002/3 maize season, 1.983 million tonnes of maize was produced in Malawi and in the 2003/4 season, 1.733 million tonnes was produced.

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