Zimbabwe: Saltlakes Holdings Set to Fund Tobacco Production

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) 29 November 2007 11/30/2007

SALTLAKES Holdings will finance the production of 10 000 hectares of tobacco under its contract farming programme with at least 4 000 growers. General manager Mr George Marechera told Herald Business yesterday the company had already started distributing inputs for seedbeds and on-spot technical advise to contracted farmers. The beneficiaries are mostly women and youths from Manicaland, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central and Harare Region. "The crop finance that is provided to farmers covers general field consumables including fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and seed," said Mr Marechera. Apart from that, Saltlakes also provides wages and packaging materials to contracted farmers. Mr Marechera said the company had gone into toll manufacturing of Compound C and ammonium nitrate. However, side marketing by farmers who breach their contractual obligations was a big challenge for the firm. "We appeal to all stakeholders and the Government to put in place measures to ensure such activities are scrutinised and perpetrators of such behaviour are penalised heavily," he said. Contract farming came at a time when Government had empowered people to parti- cipate in the mainstream economy. This would lead to the generation of the much-needed foreign currency and therefore facilitate the turnaround of the economy. "What is critical for the Zimbabwean economy is to spearhead initiatives to add value to the exportation of the golden leaf." Meanwhile, Saltlakes was represented at the World Tobacco Exhibition and congress in Paris, France. The event ended yesterday. Thousands of key executives directly involved in the production and marketing the world over attended the global premier tobacco exhibition. The event followed the 2003 expo which surpassed all expectations, bringing together 8 000 tobacco players around the world. Key issues affecting the tobacco industry were also discussed. Speaking from Paris, Saltlakes chief executive Mr Temba Mliswa said he was grateful that his company represented Zimbabwe at the meeting. He said the idea of participating was to develop business synergies between Saltlakes tobacco and international companies, a strategy that would improve the flow of foreign currency into the mainstream of the economy. "We are happy that we are here (in France), participating in such a global event," said Mr Mliswa in a telephone interview. "This will give us an opportunity to show and prove to the world what Zimbabwe is capable of doing and also to make some meaningful contacts that will help tobacco production in Zimbabwe." In line with the Look East Policy, the company has met a number of potential investors from Indonesia, Malaysia and China who are interested in Zimbabwean tobacco. Enditem