Zimbabwe: Tobacco Farmers Face Loss

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) 9 January 2008 01/10/2008

TOBACCO farmers countrywide stand to lose billions of dollars of this year's flue-cured irrigated crop if the current power outages persist. Coal, a ready substitute used in tobacco curing, is in very short supply too. Last year's irrigated tobacco crop is currently in the curing season, which takes place usually in closed structures with ventilation and artificial heating. Heat and humidity are controlled to remove moisture from the leaf and this drying process produces the characteristic orange-yellow colour of cigarettes. It usually takes four to six days to cure the tobacco. If there is a power outage, then the quality of the crop will be affected resulting in low prices. In worst case scenarios, the crop may rot. Investigations by the Herald Business established that most farmers are now in a catch 22 situation, as electricity supplies have remained erratic and coal cannot be obtained. Farmers now widely use electricity when curing tobacco in place of coal which was the major input in years gone by. "However Zesa says that they are working flat out to rectify the problem and farmers should remain optimistic," said a Zimbabwe Tobacco Association official. Zesa is stepping up efforts to revive operations of three small thermal power stations, which produce a combined 150 megawatts when powered to capacity. The country requires at least 1 500MW daily but is currently producing about 1 000MW from Hwange Thermal Power Station and Kariba South. Meanwhile, agronomists have urged tobacco farmers to use other curing methods to get round the problem and avoid huge financial losses even in a season where the central bank increased foreign currency retention allowances to 100 percent to all export farmers. Agronomist Mr Midway Bhunu said the country stands to lose foreign currency if the electricity problem is not solved. "Tobacco is an exportable crop, which requires total quality management," he said, adding that it would be a disaster if quality was lost at the final stage of curing after all efforts put by the Government in availing seed and irrigation facilities. The alternative methods, however, take a long period to dry out the leaves and are usually employed for cigar tobacco, pipe tobacco mixtures, snuff and chewing tobacco. According to statistics from the Tobacco Research Board, a total of 9 907 hectares was planted under irrigation in the 2006/7 season, almost 17 percent of the targeted hectarage. This year's summer tobacco crop is projected to be around 120 million kilogrammes with a total of 48 751 hectares having been planted to date against a target 60 000 hectares. Enditem