Tanzania: Production Plummets

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 04/18/2019

Tanzania produced 50.5 million kg of leaf tobacco in the 2017-2018 season, down from 60 million kg in 2016-2017, according to a Xinhua report.

Tobacco production in the country has been declining since 2013-2014, when Tanzania produced 105 million kg.

Industry representatives attribute the shrinkage to a combination of infestation and low demand.

“There has been a spate of pests that destroy tens of hectares of tobacco farms annually which subsequently raise production costs of the cash crop,” said Stanley Mnozya, deputy managing director of the Tanzania Tobacco Board.

Last week, the Deputy Managing Director of the Tanzania Tobacco Board, Stanley Mnozya, said that the production of tobacco has been on the decline since the 2013/2014 farming season. “There has been a spate of pests that destroy tens of hectares of tobacco farms annually which subsequently raise production costs of the cash crop,” said Mnozya.

Speaking at a meeting convened to discuss ways of reviving production of the crop and looking for new markets, Mnozya said production of tobacco declined from 105 million kilograms in 2013/2014 to 93 million kilograms in 2014/2015.  He added that the production of the crop decreased from 72 million kilograms in 2015/2016, to 60 kilograms in 2016/2017 and to further 50.5 million kilograms in 2017/2018.

Mnozya explained that one of the challenges facing tobacco production, is the low demand of tobacco due to declining smoking rates. The economies of a number of poor countries, namely some Asian and African countries, are dependent on tobacco farming, and Tanzania is second largest producer of tobacco in Africa, after Malawi.  Enditem