Tobacco is Malawi's leading foreign exchange earner. Grown by more than 50,000 farmers and offering direct employment to thousands more, tobacco is a crop of significant national economic importance. Noting this, the Government and the growers jointly established the Agricultural Research and Extension Trust (ARET) in 1995 to scientifically develop and transfer tobacco technologies that aim at maintaining the integrity of the country's tobacco leaf styles. ARET achieves this by assisting farmers technically throughout the production chain. ARET implements strong variety breeding programmes, develops appropriate agronomic practices, integrated pest management technologies and innovative leaf curing technologies. The Trust also runs a tobacco seed multiplication programme for all locally bred varieties and operates fully equipped seed storage facilities capable of holding enough certified tobacco seed for three years. It also acts as a clearing house for all importation of seed for foreign tobacco varieties released in Malawi. This ensures a high degree of traceability for the tobacco grown in the country. Additionally, ARET operates a wide network of certified tobacco seed outlets in collaboration with trading companies and tobacco grower organizations. ARET also implements demonstration programs to show and teach farmers how they can grow the tobacco using approved cultural practices, integrated pest management (IPM) and correct use of recommended crop protection agents (CPAs) at all times. Annually ARET releases a list of recommended CPAs for use on tobacco and updates a list of prohibited chemicals in tobacco. Additionally, during the growing season ARET samples tobacco leaf and analyses for pesticides residues and nicotine levels to ensure farmers' compliance to recommendations. Farmers are also given support with environmental management techniques. All this ensures that the Malawi tobacco comes from certified seed that is traceable, free from banned chemicals and produced in a manner that is environmentally friendly using legal labour.