Star Tobacco And Zim Farmers Union Team Up

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 08/16/2011

The Zimbabwe Progressive Tobacco Farmers Union (ZPTFU) and Star Tobacco International have entered into a long-term Strategic Alliance under which Star will become ZPTFU's exclusive partner in the cultivation, processing and sales of Zimbabwe flue-cured Virginia and burley tobaccos. Established in 2010, ZPTFU has 21,000 small scale farmer members with 40,000 hectares of farmland and a forecast production of 80 million kg for the 2011/2012 season. Under the terms of the Agreement, Star will: assist ZPTFU in obtaining funding for farmer inputs from international financiers act as ZPTFU's exclusive international sales and marketing arm assist in the provision of curing barns that use alternative energy in conjunction with ZPTFU's engineering partner Robinson Engineering Zimbabwe. Provide best practices and direction in alternative types of tobaccos to be cultivated in Zimbabwe for international markets such as organically grown and Oriental types. Assist ZPTFU's educational partner, Zimbabwe Open University, with funding to perfect and conduct courses designed to educate tobacco farmers in quality and yield performance. Both ZPTFU and Star share a common vision that the interests of small-scale farmers are center stage to the tobacco industry. Their common credo is,"Putting the farmer first." Small-scale production accounts for almost 90 percent of Zimbabwe's tobacco crop. "The significant rebound of the cultivated crop in the past two years both in quantity and quality confirms that small-scale indigenous Zimbabwe farmers can perform well even under distressed conditions," says Dr. Iqbal Lambat, CEO of Star Tobacco. We are looking forward to further growth in the years ahead," says Davet Muzwidzwa, CEO of ZPTFU."By joining forces with Star, we are convinced that ZPTFU will reach its ambitious goals of managing and mentoring some 50 percent of all small scale tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe and to ensure that the quality of life for our farmer members improves significantly." "This unique relationship will assist tobacco farmers meet their viability concerns," says Dr. Mavesera, director of Centre for Professional Development for Zimbabwe Open University. "We would like to assist the relationship by providing training to farmers to achieve sustainable development in the tobacco industry." Headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey, Star Tobacco International has operations in Africa, Europe, India, Asia and the United States. It is a strong advocate of "sustainable farming" in all the communities where it cultivates and sources tobacco. Enditem