ArticleReview of African political economy2018
From Colonization to Globalization: A history of state capture by the tobacco industry in Malawi.
Article in Review of African political economy, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed.
- The end of the garden path? Analyzing smallholder tobacco farming income and decision-making in Mozambique.Globalization and health · 2026Article
- The political economy of tobacco of Zimbabwe: An analysis of stakeholder perspectives.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Contextual factors impacting WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control implementation in Africa-a scoping review.Health promotion international · 2024Article
- Tobacco policy (in)coherence in Mozambique: an examination of national and subnational stakeholder perspectives.Health policy and planning · 2024Article
- Addressing tobacco industry influence in tobacco-growing countries.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2024Article
- Decolonizing Zemiology: Outlining and Remedying the Blindness to (Post)colonialism Within the Study of Social Harm.Critical criminology · 2023Article
- The politics of agricultural policy and nutrition: A case study of Malawi's Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP).PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Exploring the Political Economy Nexus of Tobacco Production and Control: A Case Study from Zambia.Critical public health · 2023Article
- An Overview of the Policy and Market Landscape of Tobacco Production and Control in Mozambique.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- How does tobacco growing impact advancement in demand reduction measures?Tobacco prevention & cessation · 2021Article
- Explaining Why Farmers Grow Tobacco: Evidence From Malawi, Kenya, and Zambia.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2020Article
- Intersectoral policy on industries that produce unhealthy commodities: governing in a new era of the global economy?BMJ global health · 2020Review
- Shifting from tobacco growing to alternatives in Malawi? A qualitative analysis of policy and perspectives.Health policy and planning · 2020Article
- Understanding Alternatives to Tobacco Production in Kenya: A Qualitative Analysis at the Sub-National Level.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- "All Weather Friends": How China Transformed Zimbabwe's Tobacco Sector.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Government policy and agricultural production: a scoping review to inform research and policy on healthy agricultural commodities.Globalization and health · 2020Article
- How Neoliberalism Is Shaping the Supply of Unhealthy Commodities and What This Means for NCD Prevention.International journal of health policy and management · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Malawi, the world's most tobacco dependent country, has long defended the tobacco industry as essential to its economy. The impoverished living conditions of tobacco farmers, however, raise questions about the true benefits accruing to the country. While the government and industry often blame public health advocates for declining leaf prices, and thus lower returns to farmers, this article scrutinises these claims from a historical perspective. It argues that a context of state capture has characterised Malawi's tobacco industry, originating with colonisation and evolving since to become increasingly entrenched. The analysis is divided into four periods: colonial (1890s-1964); national (1964-1981); liberalisation (1981-2004) and accelerated globalisation (2004 to present). Each period demonstrates how industry interests influenced government institutions and policies in ways that increased dependence on a crop that only benefits a minority of Malawians. Today, a transnational elite prospers at the expense of local growers.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.