Zimbabwe is optimistic that this year’s tobacco crop will breach the 400 million kg mark, setting a new record for the country.
The tobacco sector is however still largely funded by foreign contractors resulting in most of the proceeds being shipped out of the country.
Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) chairman Patrick Devenish acknowledged the uneven rainfall distribution but still expects that this year’s crop will be bigger than last year’s output of 353 million kg.
“There is still time to go. We had that dry period, we got worried, then we had the nice rains. Let\'s say somewhere between 380 million kg and 420 million kg,” Devenish said.
He was speaking after a tour of tobacco auction floors in Harare led by the Lands and Agriculture deputy minister, Vangelis Haritatos, ahead of the opening of the market season next week.
“We have seen a 15 percent increase in hectarage planted from last year. We had about 164 500 hectares of tobacco planted around the country. A good portion of that is irrigated, although it is still too low.
“We want to increase the portion of irrigated tobacco. We are expecting a massive crop, not just in terms of quantity but also in terms of quality. What we have seen out there is very, very encouraging. We are so excited that the floors are opening next week,” Haritatos said.
“This, I believe, is right in line with what we are doing in the tobacco value chain transformation strategy 2. The plan itself was to build a US$5 billion tobacco industry by 2025.
“We have now set a new target that by 2030, the tobacco value chain transformation strategy now targets US$7 billion. At the heart of that is value addition and beneficiation.
“After last year we touched on 353 million kg. I think we are well within our target of 500 million kg.”
