Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera has warned that the country's lead foreign exchange earner, tobacco, is in terminal decline and urged a switch to cannabis and other high-growth crops instead.

In a state of the nation address on Wednesday (May 12), Chakwera said tobacco was expected to earn less than $200 million in 2021.

That figure is roughly similar to the past two years, but well below previous annual earning of up to $350 million.

"Clearly we need to diversify and grow other crops like cannabis," he said, pointing out that the drug was legalized last year for industrial and medicinal use.

Chakwera said that aside from tobacco, the agricultural sector was booming and would enable economic growth to recover 3.8% this year based on the latest forecasts.

But decades of public health education have gradually convinced people worldwide of the dangers of tobacco.

Malawi's parliament passed a bill in February 2020 making it legal to cultivate and process cannabis for medicines and hemp fibre used in industry.

It stopped short of decriminalizing recreational use.

Countries around the world are either legalizing or relaxing laws on cannabis, including several in southern Africa such as Zambia, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe.