Zimbabwe's Tobacco Sector Fizzles Out

Source from:  TONDERAI KWIDINI HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Jul 02 2008 07/02/2008

Zimbabwe has wreaked havoc with the country's once-thriving tobacco industry. Tobacco was the mainstay of the Southern African state's economy during the 1980s and 1990s. The "golden leaf" was the county's main export product, accounting for about 50% of Zimbabwe's foreign currency earnings. About 700 000 people are dependent on the industry for their living. For decades, Zimbabwean tobacco was coveted by blenders as among the finest in the world. According to statistics from the statutory body Zimbabwe Trade, the country was the second-largest producer of flue-cured tobacco after the United States in the 1990s. Its crop was recognised for its quality in major tobacco markets in Europe, Asia and the US. But, since 2000 when the government introduced chaotic "land reform" policies, the tables have been turned. Brazil has since taken over as the world's second-largest flue-cured tobacco producer. Production of tobacco plunged from a record level of 267-million kilograms in 2000 to a dismal 73-million kilograms last year, according to the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA). In an ostensible bid to redress the racial inequities in arable land ownership, white farmers who were more experienced have been displaced from tobacco farms. These farms have subsequently been taken over, in some cases, by inexperienced and underfunded communal farmers and, in other cases, by friends of the rulers. Farmers have to put up with a plethora of problems. For example, the government is not providing sufficient support for tobacco production, and banks are reluctant to offer loans in the light of the uncertainty of the situation, including the expropriation of farms. All these problems have contributed to a very low yield of tobacco of which the quality has also been reduced. Selling woes Since 2000, every other tobacco-selling season has been plunged into disarray as tobacco farmers hold on to their crops, complaining about low prices and delayed payment. Enditem