Northern Region

Northern Region centers on Mzuzu (population 250,000), Malawi's third-largest city, serving as the economic hub for tea and coffee production alongside tobacco. The region's higher elevation and reliable rainfall created conditions for plantation agriculture that differs from the drier south. Tea cultivation, introduced in 1878, concentrates around Mzuzu with processing operations that have operated for over a century. Coffee joins tea in contributing to the 90%+ of export revenue that four crops (tea, sugar, coffee, tobacco) generate. The 2024/2025 tobacco season opened Mzuzu Selling Floors on April 28, reflecting the region's integration into national commodity markets. Yet Northern Region remains less developed than Central and Southern: infrastructure investment has historically favored the Lilongwe-Blantyre corridor. The region exemplifies classic peripheral economics—producing export commodities that flow southward through Blantyre while importing manufactured goods and processed foods. With 76% of farmers on plots under one hectare, productivity gains require the irrigation and machinery investments the 2024-25 budget prioritizes. Northern Region's distance from markets compounds the cost disadvantage all landlocked Malawian production faces. The 0.5 months of import cover and aid suspension affect tea and coffee exports as much as maize imports, constraining a region already distant from economic centers.