Zambia Produces $64m Worth of Tobacco

Source from:  Times of Zambia 05/19/2010

ZAMBIA has produced a total of 30 million kilogrammes of tobacco valued at about US$64 million, Agriculture and Cooperatives Deputy Minister Allan Mbewe has said. And the Tobacco Association of Zambia (TAZ) has slashed by more than 50 per cent, the floor laying charges for tobacco farmers who keep their crop in warehouses, to help reduce costs incurred by the farmers. Mr Mbewe said at the weekend this year's tobacco production was expected to be slightly more than the 31 million kilogrammes achieved last year. Mr Mbewe said the tobacco industry was an important cash crop to the Zambian economy, contributing not less than three per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), and Government wanted it promoted. "This is the great achievement for our agriculture in Zambia and in line with the policy of making agriculture the engine of our economy, creation of employment and generation of foreign exchange," he said. The deputy minister acknowledged that the biggest challenge to farming was the cost of production, which the Government would continue to address. Mr Mbewe also called on the Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ) to make available the title deeds to the small-scale farmers for them to easily access finance from the commercial banks. He said TBZ should facilitate for small-scale farmers to get title deeds in order to boost production. And TAZ president Brighton Mwanguku said the association had this year reduced the floor laying prices, bringing the charges down to the lowest in the region. Mr Mwanguku said the association had taken the issue of reducing the cost of production seriously and was undertaking such measures to assist tobacco farmers. Enditem