Category: Leaf

Contractors Required to Supply Tree Seedlings

Photo: Joao Bispo
Starting this season, tobacco contractors operating in Zimbabwe will be required to supply their growers with tree seedlings to establish woodlots, reports The Herald. The goal is to provide tobacco farmers with a sustainable source of curing fuel.
The shift from commercial tobacco farming to small-scale production in Zimbabwe has put considerable pressure on the country’s forest cover, given that smallholders tend to use wood rather than coal in their operations.
As Zimbabwe aims to increase tobacco cultivation under the government’s Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan, it is at pains to minimize the environmental impact of growth.
The requirement to provide seedlings is part of a number of Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) initiatives to promote sustainability.
TIMB acting CEO Emmanuel Matsvaire said his organization was promoting best agricultural practices, environmental management and social and human rights to improve socioeconomic conditions for tobacco growers and their communities.
October 27, 2024
ITGA Concludes Annual Meeting

Image: ITGA
The Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina (TGANC) hosted this year’s annual general meeting of the International Tobacco Growers Association (ITGA), Oct.15–18 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. Among other activities, participants visited one of the world’s biggest tobacco processing plants, witnessed a live auction and toured a research farm. ITGA members also re-elected ITGA’s President Jose Javier Aranda for another term.
During the event, leading agronomists shared their insights into global tobacco yields over the past decade. While the U.S., Brazil and several European origins registered increases, the overall picture is one of flat performance or even decline, which goes against trends in other crops like corn, soybeans and cotton.
During the open session conference, delegates had the opportunity to discuss ITGA’s global research in the U.S. context. Moderated by William Snell from the University of Kentucky, a panel comprising local growers revealed that the issues faced by growers worldwide are very similar.
Panelists also discussed the consequences of the U.S. tobacco buyout, which led to the creation of bigger farms and shifted production west but failed to boost yields.

TGANC Executive Vice President Graham Boyd moderated a discussion about the current marketing season, which continues to be characterized by leaf shortages. While some believed that the flue-cured and burley markets will regain equilibrium in 2025 and 2026 respectively, others predicted longer time frames.
Shane MacGuill, Euromonitor International global lead for nicotine and cannabis, presented the latest consumption trends. According to MacGuill, U.S. consumption patterns have been shifting in the context of overall flat nicotine volume evolution. Among the key drivers for the future of consumption, he said, will be a broadening of the nicotine universe and regulatory innovation, including sustainability and cost-of-living concerns.
Ivan Genov, ITGA manager for tobacco industry analysis, examined the key drivers in leading tobacco-sourcing countries. According to him, unfavorable weather patterns in prominent markets such as Brazil, Zimbabwe and the U.S. were a key contributor to decreased total global sales in 2024. The trend was bucked by a few markets, including Malawi, which enjoyed strong sales this year.
The U.S. regulatory perspective was presented by Benjamin Dessart, vice president of external affairs at Universal. Dessart explained the recent U.S. tobacco regulation policy shift and relevant proposed rules, which he said have the potential to impact the entire supply chain.
The global regulatory discussion was moderated by Michiel Reerink, international corporate affairs director and managing director at Alliance One International. Among other topics, Reerink touched on the European Union Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which will require companies to closely examine their own value chains.
October 22, 2024
Zimbabwe: Preparation for Growing Season on Track

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
The Zimbabwean tobacco industry is increasingly confident it will achieve 300 million kg in the 2024–2025 season, reports The Herald.
In a statement on Oct. 10, Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board Public Affairs Officer Chelesani Tsarwe said preparations for the upcoming growing season were progressing well, with most farmers expressing optimism about the cropping period.
With consistent rainfall and moderate temperatures expected, farmers are better positioned to maximize their outputs than they were in the most recent growing season.
“We are optimistic about achieving the set target, thanks to the favorable weather forecast,” said Tsarwe.
Despite the drought caused by El Nino, tobacco fared relatively well last year. The yield decreased by 20 percent from the previous season, reaching about 231 million kg in 2023.
As of Oct. 4, 2024, Zimbabwe had exported 159.43 million kg of tobacco valued at $833.99 million compared to 143.23 million kg during the same period last year.
“The average export price this year stands at $5.23, marking an increase from $4.99 recorded during the same period last year,” said Tsarwe.
Last year, the country earned $1.3 billion from tobacco exports, up 30 percent over 2022.
Eager to capture more value from the tobacco business, the government wants Zimbabwe to boost leaf output and move into value-added activities such as cigarette manufacturing.
October 13, 2024
Land Reform Beneficiaries to Receive Tenure

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Zimbabwe will give Black farmers who benefited from land seizures in the early 2000s tenure, allowing them to use their properties as collateral or sell them, reports Bloomberg.
“All land held by beneficiaries of the land reform program under 99-year leases, offer letters and permits will now be held under a bankable, registrable and transferable more secure document of tenure, to be issued by the government,” said Information Minister Jenfan Muswere Oct. 8 in Harare.
The latest “measures will have a huge impact on our economic growth, and will unlock the full value of the land while enhancing the performance of our economy,” Muswere said. “This will facilitate accelerated investments in agriculture and associated value chains, which include irrigation, dam construction, power supply and rural road construction.”
Nearly two decades ago, Zimbabwe under then President Robert Mugabe began seizing properties from commercial farmers, including many tobacco farmers, in order to redress “colonial imbalances.”
Most prime properties in the country were held by whites, who constitute a minority of Zimbabwe’s population
The controversial land reform program caused Zimbabwe’s agricultural industry and tobacco output to collapse, causing a severe economic crisis characterized by hyperinflation and other problems.
Whereas Zimbabwe’s entire tobacco crop was once supplied by perhaps 1,500 large-scale growers, today’s crop is supplied more than 100,000 smallholders.
The southern African country has since agreed to pay $3.5 billion in compensation to the white commercial farmers.
In terms of volume, the tobacco industry has recovered from land reform. In 2023, Zimbabwe harvested a record 296 million kg and earned more than $1 billion from leaf exports.
October 9, 2024
TIMB Deploys Biometrics to Curb Side Marketing

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) is pioneering a new biometric management system to curb side marketing, a practice in which farmers sell their crops to noncontracting merchants and deprive the investor of his tobacco.
The regulatory body is collecting fingerprints from each tobacco farmer and linking them to their unique grower number. The biometric data is complemented by GPS coordinates of the growers’ farms. When farmers collect inputs, contractors can verify a growers’ authenticity using a scanner.
The system makes it impossible for farmers to contract with multiple tobacco merchants. It also captures the indebtedness of farmers, minimizing the potential for contractors to manipulate the growers’ financial obligations.
“The system will help eliminate corrupt elements by verifying their identities and improving the stop order system to prevent the misuse of growers’ numbers,” TIMB acting CEO Emmanuel Matsvaire told The Sunday Mail.
The old system, which relied solely on registration, allowed nonfarmers to participate in the market, fueling side marketing and leading to high rates of default.
Side marketing remains a significant problem in the Zimbabwean tobacco industry, responsible for millions of dollars in lost revenue.
In 2023, TIMB blocked nearly 550 grower numbers on suspicion of their use in side marketing. In 2021, five exporters alone lost $57 million due to the practice.
Meanwhile, preparations for the upcoming cropping season are progressing as the country seeks to achieve a tobacco yield of 300 million kg, according to Matsvaire.
Despite the El Nino drought that destroyed various crops last year, tobacco performed relatively well, declining by 20 percent to approximately 231 million kg from a record 297 million kg during the previous season.
This season’s target aligns with the government’s Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan, which also aims to enhance beneficiation and raise local funding.
October 7, 2024
Atlas to Increase Air-Cured Production

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Atlas Agri Zimbabwe plans to significantly increase its air-cured tobacco hectarage this season.
According to The Herald, the sole contractor of this variety in Zimbabwe intends to grow 100 ha in 2024–2025.
“So far, we have engaged over 150 farmers to produce the crop on over 100 hectares, up from last year’s 10 hectares that were done by 17 farmers,” Atlas Agri CEO Alex Mackay was quoted as saying.
According to Mackay, many of the farmers who participated in the inaugural test expressed satisfaction with their sales. The top performing grower delivered 608 kg and received an average price of USD3.10 per kilogram.
The success of the project has attracted more farmers.
“We have seen over 300 new farmers applying for contracts, expanding our reach to Plum Tree, Fig Tree and the wider Mangwe region,” said Mackay. “Looking ahead, we have several initiatives in the pipeline aimed at enhancing yield and quality.”
Atlas Agri aims to boost returns for its farmers while protecting the environment. Instead of relying on wood for curing fuel, the company’s contracted farmers rely entirely on natural elements.
With the support and guidance from Agritex and the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), the company hopes to benefit both farmers and the economy in line with the government’s Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan, according to Mackay.
TIMB acting CEO Emmanuel Matsvaire noted that the cost of producing air-cured tobacco is relatively low at around USD400 per hectare.
September 28, 2024
Zimbabwe Firms Seek Help Entering Foreign Markets

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Representatives of indigenous tobacco companies have asked the Zimbabwean government to help them secure export markets to widen their revenue base, reports The Herald.
Company officials met separately with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement chaired by Felix Maburutse on Sept. 20.
Richard Machingura, head of operations and agronomy at Norton Leaf Tobacco, said indigenous-owned companies in the tobacco sector were struggling to access foreign markets and would benefit from assistance from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, which regulates the domestic industry.
“As tobacco companies, we are also facing some challenges in the markets,” he was quoted as saying. “You will find that most of our tobacco locally, we are just doing the intermediate trading. So, we have a challenge of markets where we are not really able to export our tobacco, and this is affecting the growth of our industry,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s tobacco export earnings increased 138 percent year-on-year to reach $436 million in the first quarter of this year.
Traditionally a leading exporter of flue-cured Virginia, the country aims to extract more revenue from the business by moving to higher value products, such as cigarettes.
In 2021, the government adopted the tobacco value chain transformation plan, which seeks to build a $5 billion industry by 2025.
September 26, 2024
Farmers Scramble to Save Leaf Ahead of Storm

Photo: sabino.parente
Tobacco farmers in Cuba scrambled to secure thousands of tons of cigar tobacco ahead of Tropical Storm Helene, which was expected to unleash mudslides and flooding on the island, reports Reuters.
Helene was churning about 277 km south of the western tip of Cuba as it barreled northwest, with maximum sustained winds of 72 kph, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Sept. 24.
Forecasters predict Helene will strengthen quickly over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico to become a major hurricane, packing winds as high as 185 kph.
A hurricane watch and tropical storm warnings were in effect across the western third of Cuba while the capital, Havana, was expected to see heavy rain and more moderate winds.
The storm is expected to move north toward the U.S. later in the week over parts of Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, bringing isolated flash flooding and urban flooding, the U.S. National Weather Service said.
September 25, 2024
Malawi Tobacco Earnings up Despite Drought

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Malawi earned 40 percent more from tobacco sales in the 2024 marketing season than it did the previous year, despite an El Nino-induced drought, reports Reuters, citing the Tobacco Commission.
The Tobacco Commission said that leaf sales increased to $396.28 million, up from $283.76 million the previous season. Over the same period, volumes increased to 133.1 million kg from 120.5 million kg.
“This represents a substantial surge,” the Tobacco Commission wrote in its final season report. “The increase in sales volume, revenue and the average price per kilogram indicates a strong and positive performance compared to the previous year.”
Despite the drought, which hit most of Malawi’s agricultural output, especially the staple food maize, the tobacco crop proved resilient, helping the country to profit from a surge in global demand.
“Global demand is high due to consecutive calamitous weather impacts in major producing countries,” said Limbani Kakhome, a spokesperson for Japan Tobacco Leaf, one of the commodity’s top buying companies in Malawi.
September 16, 2024
Poland Sets Export Record

Photo: JTI
At the end of 2023, the net value of Polish tobacco exports (exports minus imports) reached $3.97 billion, the highest since recordkeeping began, according to the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology.
Poland was the world’s largest importer and second-largest exporter of tobacco and tobacco substitutes in 2023. China and Germany exported tobacco worth $9.18 billion and $3.39 billion, respectively, that year.
In terms of value, the main destinations of Polish tobacco products were Germany ($2.56 billion), Spain ($677 million) and Italy ($550 million).
Poland’s largest non-EU customers included the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Algeria in 2023.
In terms of production, the country ranked only 31st last year, with an output of 22 million kg. By the end of 2023, there were about 3,500 tobacco growers registered in Poland.
Poland’s rise to prominence in the global tobacco trade was driven in part by entry into the European Union on May 1, 2004, after which many international tobacco companies invested in the country. EU membership has enabled Poland to better integrate into European supply chains, and local manufacturing has become more competitively priced.
In 2023, Polish exports of tobacco products continued to grow, although the growth rate leveled off due to stricter regulations, rising production costs and changing consumer preferences. For example, domestic consumption has decreased significantly. Today, approximately 24 percent of Poles smoke, down from a peak of 40 percent in previous decades.
September 13, 2024