During his 15 years as a Malawian tobacco farmer, Boniface Namate has had to overcome many difficulties growing the plant that is the country's biggest export earner.
Due to restrictions imposed to control the spread of the virus in Malawi – one of the world's poorest countries, and one of the top 10 tobacco producers – growers were barred from physically attending the auctions where prices are set.
When the auction season opened in April, Namate and other small-scale farmers said their earnings had indeed evaporated.
Another farmer Alick Munthali, who has harvested eight tonnes of tobacco in Rumphi in northern Malawi, finds himself in a similar predicament.
"Farmers are not cheated on the sales," said Felix Thole, chief executive of the Tobacco Association of Malawi Farmer's Trust, which represents large-scale growers.
