Zimbabwe Farmers Produce Record Tobacco Crop, But Farmers Left Counting Their Losses

Source from:  Fin24 09/04/2019

Despite the drought that ravaged Zimbabwe during the 2018/19 agricultural season, the southern African country still managed to produce a record-breaking tobacco output, reaching 257 547 838 kilograms as at August 30, 2019.

This year's output is higher than the previous record of 252.5 million kilograms recorded in the 2017/18 farming season.

Subscribe to Fin24’s newsletter here
It is also higher than the tobacco output range of between 220 million and 240 million kilograms that regulator the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) had projected at the start of the selling season.

Highest prices, lowest output.

However, the record-breaking output appeared to have brought little cheer to farmers, who were left poorer than before after the selling season recorded the lowest prices in close to a decade, placing the future of the next farming season in jeopardy.

This year's prices, at US$2.03 per kg, where 30.52% lower than the average price of US$2.92 per kg paid in 2018.

Overall, the value of tobacco sold this year was down 29% at US$522.6m, down from $736.2m in the prior year.

Couldn't cover costs.

"This year I increased my tobacco planting area and spent more money than before in growing this year's crop, but after selling I have nothing to show for it. I even failed to meet all my debts," said Michael Kizito, a tobacco farmer in Karoi, 200km north west of Harare.

Kizito said the average price he got this year was not enough to cover the costs of growing the crop.

"After paying the contractor and my farm labourers I was left with very little to get me by. Getting back into the field this coming season is going to be a challenge. I see farmers scaling down production or pull out from tobacco farming altogether," he said.  Enditem