Voedsel To Set Up Leaf-Processing Plant

Voedsel Tobacco International will set up a $6 million leaf-processing plant in Rusape, Zimbabwe, this year, reports Bulls n Bears.

 “We have purchased the material to set up a tobacco-processing plant for the value addition of tobacco,” said Voedsel’s commercial director, Tennyson Hwandi.

“This process involves beneficiating the tobacco from its state into a semi-finished product. It also means that there is going to be more earnings for the farmers as we grow the value chain. As an indigenous company, we are proud to have achieved this as this creates new jobs.”

 Hwandi said the plant is expected to start operations this year.

 Voedsel’s investment is in line with the government’s Tobacco Transformation Plan, which aims to grow the Zimbabwean tobacco industry to $5 billion by 2023 by increasing the level of value-added tobacco to 30 percent from the current 2 percent.