Cotton in Malawi

Cotton in Malawi is an important part of the agricultural history of Malawi. Cotton is not indigenous to the country, but was introduced into warmer lowland areas no later than the 17th century. Production in the late pre-colonial and early colonial period was limited but, from the early 20th century, it has been grown mainly by African smallholders in the south of the country. For a brief period during the First World War, cotton was the most valuable export crop, and it has remained an important earner of foreign exchange.

Throughout most of the colonial period and since independence, smallholder cotton growers have been subject to market regulation which prevented competition with estates owned by Europeans in the earlier period and by members of the Malawian political elite later. Regulations transferred resources away from smallholder cotton farmers and, where the rewards were meager, probably discouraged them from abandoning subsistence food cultivation, as there is the potential to grow much more cotton than is currently being produced.