Number Of Zimbabwe''s Tobacco Growers Continue To Increase

Source from:  Malaysian National News Agency 11/13/2014

At least 86,751 farmers in Zimbabwe have registered to grow tobacco during the 2014/15 season, up from 83,668 who had applied by the corresponding period in 2013, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) says.

At least 40,359 of the farmers who want to grow the crop are communal-based, translating to 46 per cent of the growers who have registered while small-scale commercial farmers account for the least number at 6,825, representing just 8.0 per cent of the total, with 510 of them having registered for the first time.

Mashonaland West Province leads in the number of growers who have registered with 30,280, while Matabeleland Province has the least number with just 12 registered growers, according to the TIMB.

Growers registering for the first time numbered 16,067 compared with 25,728 who registered in the corresponding period last year. Communal farmers constitute 9,886 of the total number of new tobacco growers for 2014/15 season.

During the 2013 marketing season, a total of 106,455 farmers sold tobacco at the auction floors. Production of the golden leaf in Zimbabwe surged at the turn of the millennium with farmers in communal areas catching up to growing the crop.

At least 217 million kilogrammes of tobacco were produced in 2013, raking in 700 million US dollars, the most in 14 years as the rebound in output continued, driven by small-scale farmers, good rains, organized marketing and experience that producers have acquired to date. The last time output surpassed 210 million kg was in 2000 when it reached 227.7 million kg.

Tobacco is one of Zimbabwe's major agricultural exports, accounting for 10.7 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Export destinations for Zimbabwean tobacco include Belgium, United Arab Emirates, China, Sudan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Britain, Spain, New Zealand, Montenegro and Russia.

Experts here have called for value addition to the tobacco, arguing that revenue would then increase tenfold. Enditem