Tag: Zimbabwe

  • The Man Behind the Plan

    The Man Behind the Plan

    Anxious Jongwe Masuka
    (Photo: Taco Tuinstra)

    Zimbabwe’s minister of Agriculture, Anxious Jongwe Masuka, explains how the country will build a $5 billion tobacco industry by 2025.

    By Taco Tuinstra

    Following the resignation of Zimbabwe’s longtime president, Robert Mugabe, in late 2017, the new government invited private citizens to provide ideas on how to improve agriculture. Drawing on his extensive background in agriculture, policy and strategy, Anxious Jongwe Masuka wrote a letter in which he detailed the steps that he believed would help the nation achieve a prosperous, sustainable and competitive agricultural sector.

    One of the issues he mentioned was tobacco, the country’s most important agricultural export by a wide margin. Zimbabwe has the potential to generate and retain much more value from its tobacco industry than it is getting now, Masuka argued in his missive, unaware that he would soon be put in charge of the sector.

    “Then, when I was appointed a minister, President Emmerson Mnangagwa handed me back my letter and said, ‘I fully agree with what you have written here, and now please go ahead and implement it,’” recalls Masuka.

    Tobacco Reporter caught up with Masuka at the Ministry of Agriculture in Harare to discuss the details of what is now known as the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan.

    Tobacco Reporter: Please briefly sketch the economic significance of tobacco to Zimbabwe. How much of the value created is retained domestically, and why does it fall short of its potential?

    Anxious Jongwe Masuka: The context of the tobacco industry in Zimbabwe is exciting, since the first tobaccos were grown by missionary priests and presented at a show in 1895. Tobacco is one of [the] great successes for the country. By 1998, 1,500 large-scale white farmers produced a record 239 million kg. At the time, only a handful of small-scale Black farmers, less than 1,000, produced the crop. Following the land reform program from 2000 onward, the demography has dramatically shifted. A new record 260 million kg was produced in the 2019/2020 season, predominantly by smallholder farmers who constitute over 85 percent of the growers.

    The tobacco crop annually supports up to 160,000 households, accounts for more than 50 percent of agricultural exports and contributes 25 percent to agriculture GDP.

    Tobacco production is now a catalyst for accelerated rural development. Tobacco is grown predominantly by smallholder farmers, who constitute 85 percent of producers. Tobacco supports, directly and indirectly, 10 percent of Zimbabwe’s population (1.5 million).

    Some 98 percent of tobacco is exported in a semi-processed form. However, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, only 12.5 percent of total exports is the net benefit after payment of external loan obligations by tobacco merchants.

    Zimbabwe produces 6 percent of the world’s tobacco. The global tobacco market is estimated at US$850 billion, and 6 percent of the value translates to $51 billion of the global market value of tobacco. In 2020, Zimbabwe produced and exported over 200 million kg of tobacco worth only $991 million, so clearly there is scope for massive value retention in the country.

    This is the basis for the Tobacco Transformation Plan, an idea I floated to the president in 2018 when I was still in the private sector and before being appointed minister in August 2020.

    What are the Tobacco Transformation Plan’s main objectives?

    From the mentioned statistics, it is clear that the industry must transform for value preservation and for sustainability. The Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan seeks to increase tobacco production to 300 million kg by 2025 and transform the value chain into a $5 billion industry through exports of tobacco value-added products. The broad objectives of the plan are to accelerate localization of tobacco funding; increase tobacco productivity and production from 210 million kg to 300 million kg; increase production of alternative crops and increase their contribution to farmers’ incomes; increase the level of tobacco value addition and beneficiation into cut rag and cigarettes; and ensure sustainability and traceability in the production of the crop.

    Why is such a large share of cultivation currently funded by contractors? And how does the Tobacco Transformation Plan seek to remedy this situation?

    Collateral, title deed-based financing collapsed in 2000, when all agricultural land became state land. By 2004, tobacco production had plummeted to 48 million kg from a high of 239 million kg. A dual marketing system was then introduced by government—a contract system was allowed, operating alongside the established auction system. Over the years, the contract system was refined to provide agronomic and farm infrastructure and equipment support in addition to inputs and working capital. Resultantly, and cumulatively, over 95 percent of production is currently funded through contract farming. This contract production financing model of tobacco requires that tobacco be prefinanced by offshore funding.

    Local lending by local financial institutions for farming purposes is limited, particularly for small-scale farmers who do not meet the collateral requirements following the collapse of title-based lending in 2000.

    The localization plan will involve government availing $60 million as seed finance to establish a revolving facility. The plan will operate alongside contract production of the crop. This will anchor the growth to 300 million kg.

    How do you view the role of tobacco buyers in the future? Will they still be funding tobacco cultivation after the Tobacco Transformation Plan has been carried out?

    Zimbabwe envisages growing the tobacco industry to a 300 million kg crop by 2025—an additional 90 million kg from the current average production of 210 million kg—so there is room for both contractors and local financing. The government is not replacing anyone in the current system, especially contractors and buyers. In fact, the exact opposite—we require more contractors and more localization of financing. We envisage that contractors can operate in both systems, whether the source of financing is offshore or is local, a contractor will be required alongside some direct lending to farmers.

    According to some economists, one of the reasons smallholder tobacco growers have struggled to access funding in the past was lack of titles to their lands. What is the current situation in terms of property rights? Does the Tobacco Transformation Plan deal with this issue?

    Those economists are misguided. Tobacco production has reached an all-time high in the current tenure system, post-land reform. All agricultural land is vested in the state, and for the right reasons, following the land reform program. Farmers got offer letters, and now securitized A1 and A2 permits and thereafter 99-year leases. It is in this context that tobacco production has grown through strong value chain or contract-growing support.

    Government is currently seized with the legal reviews to make permits and leases more attractive to financiers, so issues of collateralization, transferability and valorization are being discussed.

    It is also important, for emphasis, to highlight that the Tobacco Transformation Plan is an agronomic plan, not a land reform plan.

    Are you confident that Zimbabwe can sell a 300 million kg crop even as global cigarette consumption stagnates?

    Zimbabwe will achieve 300 million kg of production by 2025 through increased yields and reduced post-harvest losses. Zimbabwe produces flavor-style tobacco, currently marketed to 60 countries. This style of tobacco will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future in these countries and beyond. We are also exploring new markets to replace lost markets. Tobacco smoking is by choice, and we think many will continue to choose to smoke Zimbabwean tobacco.

    Tobacco cultivation has environmental impacts, such as deforestation. What measures are in place to protect the environment as the tobacco industry expands?

    The targeted increase in volume to 300 million kg is not from area increase but from post-harvest loss reduction and yield increase. There is, therefore, no envisaged additional deforestation from the increased production. However, the government has created a law for tobacco farmers, so there is an afforestation levy administered by the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality to reverse deforestation caused by the tobacco sector. The industry has a sustainable forestry association, which plants tens of thousands of eucalyptus trees annually.

    Alongside this, research and development has also led to more efficient curing systems, reducing wood and coal usage from 10 kg [of tobacco] to 1 kg [of] tobacco and 6 kg [of tobacco] to 1 kg [of] tobacco, respectively, to almost 1 to 1 for coal to tobacco in current continuous curing systems. Biofuels are also promising fuel alternatives to curtail deforestation.

    All contractors have now signed the sustainability code, and traceability has been heightened to ensure farmers use alternative curing fuel. Growers are also encouraged to plant 1 hectare of trees for every 7 hectares of tobacco, and seedlings are readily available.

    This cocktail of measures will reduce the industry’s environmental footprint.

    Please comment on the Tobacco Transformation Plan’s goal to promote alternative crops. What crops are you targeting, and how do they compare to tobacco in terms of earnings for the farmers and economic contributions to the country?

    Tobacco is already grown in rotation with various crops, for example, maize, and there is also livestock grazing on rotation grass. We need to enhance these and look for alternative crops, for example, industrial hemp and cannabis. The objective is to complement tobacco, not to replace it.

    In 2018, Zimbabwe legalized cannabis for medical and industrial use, with some predicting earnings on par with those of gold. How has the cannabis industry developed since 2018? What have been the major lessons of Zimbabwe’s experience with this crop to date, and what are your expectations for its future?

    Zimbabwe has just legalized the production of cannabis and has issued licenses to 60 growing units. This industry is at a developmental stage, and we expect rapid growth.

     

    The Tobacco Transformation Plan seeks the beneficiation of tobacco by encouraging value-added production. What progress has been made in this area to date? Please comment on the reports about local cigarette factories planned by Cut Rag Processors and Iranian Tobacco Co.

    The environment for investment has seen much improvement, and we expect investors to take advantage of this, including Cut Rag Processors, the Iranians and many others.

    What do you consider to be the greatest challenges to achieving the objectives of the Tobacco Transformation Plan? And how are you addressing those challenges?

    By far the greatest threat is from the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which seeks to eliminate tobacco smoking. This will have tragic consequences for tobacco-dependent African countries such as Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

    Then there are issues of adherence to sustainability and traceability and ensuring growers’ viability.

    More discerning markets want their tobacco to be produced ethically and sustainably. These are legitimate concerns. We are taking this on board and going to every length to show we are producing this tobacco in a sustainable manner, eliminating child labor, traceability, harmful substances, etc.

    Ultimately, growth in this industry will depend on grower viability. Due to the war between Russia and Ukraine—two major sources of raw materials for fertilizer production—and disruptions to the global supply chain, among other factors, the cost of production for tobacco [has] increased by 30 [percent] to 40 percent. Without a corresponding increase in the price, this means that farmers are squeezed and will therefore have to produce the crop more efficiently.

    We must highlight also that success of the Tobacco Transformation Plan depends on a whole-of-industry approach. The government has created a tobacco working group involving all stakeholders. Every quarter, representatives of tobacco growers, labor unions, buyers, bankers and regulators meet to discuss progress of the Tobacco Transformation Plan, and we look forward to accelerating its implementation.

    Have the various stakeholders generally been receptive to the Tobacco Transformation Plan?

    They have been extremely receptive. The Tobacco Transformation Plan was long overdue.

    Taco Tuinstra is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial director.Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, he coordinates the work of staff writers and contributors.On his watch, Tobacco Reporter has won several awards for editorial excellence.Since joining the magazine in 1997, Taco has visited more than 75 countries to meet industry representatives in their markets and to report tobacco news firsthand.
  • The Scientific Approach

    The Scientific Approach

    The Tobacco Research Board in Harare | Photos: Taco Tuinstra

    Boosting Production Through Innovation

    By Taco Tuinstra

    The tobacco transformation plan aims to boost production without expanding the farmer base or laying claim to significantly more farmland (see interview with Minister of Agriculture Anxious Masuka). To help the government achieve its objectives, the Tobacco Research Board (Kutsaga) (TRB) is developing improved seed varieties, innovating to reduce post-harvest losses and creating education programs for tobacco growers.

    According to TRB CEO Frank Magama, the key to sustainable growth is improving yields. Just recently, the TRB released four new flue-cured tobacco varieties developed for marginal growing areas in the south of Zimbabwe, which is dryer than the rest of the country. With traditional tobacco varieties, farmers in that region have been getting yields of about 1,100 per hectare. Magama hopes the new varieties will boost that number to 2,500 kg per hectare.

    The varieties have been issued on a so-called limited-release protocol. “We allow 20 farmers to grow one hectare each so we can get more data and learn whether the new varieties are suitable,” says Magama. If, in consultation with the growers, the breeders are satisfied with the results, they will move to the next stage of the trials. In the second season of evaluation, the TRB will distribute seed for these varieties among a larger number of farmers for further testing. In addition, tobacco merchants will test-smoke cigarettes manufactured with tobacco from the new varieties to make sure they deliver the desired flavor. Altogether it will take between three years and four years from the start of the trials until the new varieties will be available to all growers in the targeted areas.

    Recently, the TRB released four new flue-cured tobacco varieties developed for marginal growing areas in the south of Zimbabwe, which is dryer than the rest of the country.

    Reducing Losses

    The TRB is also looking at reducing post-harvest losses. According to Magama, smallholder farmers may lose up to 50 percent of their crops due to inadequate handling. “If you look in the field, it may be a 3 ton crop,” he says. “But what goes to auction is perhaps 1.5 tons.”

    The problem starts before the tobacco even leaves the farm. After curing, the leaf is very brittle, and to prevent breakage while moving the leaf from the curing barn to the shed, it must be conditioned. Ideally, this is done with a misting system, but this requires piping and electricity, which are often unavailable in the rural areas. So small-scale farmers may just use boiling water, which doesn’t generate the proper mist. As a result, a needlessly high share of good tobacco ends up as scrap that may sell for perhaps $0.10 per kg—or, more likely, end up as compost.

    “It’s an issue of infrastructure,” says Magama. In partnership with a tobacco equipment manufacturing company, the TRB evaluated a portable firewood steam boiler for tobacco conditioning. This portable unit can be moved from barn to barn and also to grading facilities with ease and without a need for extension pipes. “If we solve that aspects of losses, we can significantly boost yields.”

    We hope that eventually hemp can be grown on tobacco farms, either as a rotation crop with tobacco or eventually as an alternative to tobacco.

    Frank Magama, CEO, Tobacco Research Board

    At the same time, Kutsaga is working to reduce the amount of wood required for tobacco curing and other farm activities. The shift from commercial growing (which uses mostly coal as a curing fuel) to smallholder production has put considerable pressure on Zimbabwe’s forest cover. Innovations such as the rocket barn and Kutsaga’s counter-current barn use up to 50 percent less wood than conventional barns. And while the rocket barn is comparatively expensive, Magama believes farmers can significantly reduce its cost through materials substitution, by making their own bricks, for example.

    The TRB has also been distributing eucalyptus tree seedlings to farmers but with mixed success. Tobacco growers are not always keen to plant trees on land that could be used for other crops. So the board is also working with schools in rural areas. “We donate seedlings and presented it as an educational and commercial opportunity,” says Magama. Tending to the trees is light work—you will need to protect them against termites, for example—and within three years to four years, the schools will have timber that they can sell to tobacco farmers and other users. “The initiative with the schools has gotten a lot more traction than working directly with tobacco growers,” says Magama.

    The TRB is building a model farm at its Kutsaga Station to teach tobacco growers good agricultural practices

    Model Farm

    Another way to improve tobacco yields is through education and training. This is extensively done through what Kutsaga terms tobacco improved productivity sites (TIPS), where training is done on farms in selected tobacco-growing areas. Farmers from the area are provided with all the necessary inputs and then trained year-round on these sites. The TRB is currently also building a 6 ha model farm at its Kutsaga Station to teach tobacco growers good agricultural practices: How do you properly rotate tobacco and food crops, and what else can you cultivate on your farm? “We are also doing this to prepare growers for a future with less smoking,” says Magama. Upon completion of construction of the facility, the TRB will select a grower to live and work full time on the farm with his family. Supported by the best agronomic advice, this farmer will then become a visual model for other growers to emulate.

    Meanwhile, the TRB itself is adjusting to a changing market with declining cigarette consumption. Following the legalization of industrial hemp and cannabis for medicinal use in Zimbabwe in 2019, the board has set up three stations for hemp research. According to Magama, it would be relatively easy for tobacco farmers to get into hemp. “We hope that eventually hemp can be grown on tobacco farms, either as a rotation crop with tobacco or eventually as an alternative to tobacco,” he says. Kutsaga is also investigating crops such as stevia and chia.

    Looking further ahead, Magama would like the TRB to venture into biopharming, using tobacco to develop compounds of value, such as pharmaceuticals or vaccines. He hopes some of the board’s current innovations will help generate money to fund the modern labs required for such endeavors. For the time being, it remains a dream only. If it becomes reality, however, it will provide an unrivaled boost to Zimbabwe’s effort to extract more value from its tobacco business.

    Taco Tuinstra is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial director.Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, he coordinates the work of staff writers and contributors.On his watch, Tobacco Reporter has won several awards for editorial excellence.Since joining the magazine in 1997, Taco has visited more than 75 countries to meet industry representatives in their markets and to report tobacco news firsthand.
  • The Trade’s Perceptive

    The Trade’s Perceptive

    The Trade’s Perspective: Leaf Merchants Urge Sustainable Growth

    By Taco Tuinstra

    Stakeholders in Zimbabwe’s tobacco business have generally been receptive to the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan (TVCTP), which among other things aims to boost leaf production and move up the value chain (see interview with Minister of Agriculture Anxious Masuka). “The plan has some sound fundamentals,” says Mark Mason, managing director of Zimbabwe Leaf Tobacco Co., a subsidiary of Universal. “It sensibly talks about vertical growth—boosting tobacco production by improving yields and cutting losses rather than expanding hectarage or increasing the number of farmers. Those are admirable objectives.”

    At the same time, the industry is counseling caution and realistic expectations. In recent years, some entrepreneurs have moved beyond Zimbabwe’s mainstay of flue-cured Virginia (FCV) production. Several companies, including Mosi Oa Tunya Cigars (see “The Smoke that Thunders,” Tobacco Reporter, June 2021), are now manufacturing cigars with locally grown tobacco. Cavendish Lloyd is experimenting with low-nicotine FCV for shisha products (see “Great Expectations,” Tobacco Reporter, May 2022). There are also several companies producing cigarettes for the local market. In October 2022, Cut Rag Processors announced it would build an $80 million cigarette factory in Harare. Iranian Tobacco Co. has expressed interest as well, though the discussions are only at an exploratory stage.

    The plan sensibly talks about vertical growth—boosting tobacco production by improving yields and cutting losses rather than expanding hectarage or increasing the number of farmers.

    Mark Mason, magaging director, Zimbabwe Leaf Tobacco

    But while BAT and some of its smaller competitors have been happy to manufacture limited amounts of cigarettes in Zimbabwe, it’s doubtful that big players such as Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International will build factories in Zimbabwe. Serving global markets and headquartered in Western capitals, the multinationals are guided by purely commercial considerations and generally seek to establish their manufacturing operations in countries with smooth roads, reliable power and business-friendly legislation—areas in which Zimbabwe faces strong competition. For these and other reasons, significant local cigarette production for exports by the majors may remain a bit “pie in the sky,” according to one tobacco veteran.

    The merchants, in turn, are content with their current position in the value chain, which ends after the transformation of green leaf into unmanufactured tobacco. Currently, there are three tobacco processing factories in Harare—ZLT, Mashonaland Tobacco Co. (MTC) and Tobacco Processors Zimbabwe, which is managed by Northern Tobacco. “We have no investments beyond processing,” says Rob Holmes, executive officer of the Tobacco Leaf Exporters Association of Zimbabwe (TLEAZ), which represents nine leaf dealers with lamina exports of at least 1 million kg each and accounts for 85 percent of the contracted crop. According to Holmes, moving into cigarette manufacturing would put the merchants in direct competition with their customers—a situation they are obviously keen to avoid. “So, monetary-wise, the value addition described in the plan would take place very much after our stage of the chain,” he says.

    Merchants warn that, in the current market, Zimbabwe may struggle to sell 300 miillion kg.
    (Photos: Taco Tuinstra)

    Contracting with tens of thousands of farmers, the merchants are better positioned to help grow the crop. But here, too, they are urging caution. “In the current world market, we would struggle to sell 300 million kg,” says Holmes. “There has been a bit of an increase in the demand for our leaf from China [which purchases 40 percent of Zimbabwean volumes] but not to the extent that you can soak that up.” According to Holmes, the styles that normally go into China are unique to that market and relatively expensive. “Where do you find customers for the excess volumes of those styles?” he asks.

    The demand for Zimbabwe’s prized flavor grade tobacco, too, is limited. “International customers require only so much of that style,” says Holmes. “Otherwise, you’d be getting into more filler grade tobaccos, and then you are competing purely on price whilst you’ve got cost-of-production issues.” Supply chain disruptions in the wake of Covid and the war in Ukraine have driven up the cost of inputs such as fertilizer and fuel considerably during the most recent growing season. In addition to such global factors, the Zimbabwean industry has had to cope with local cost pressures this season, such as erratic supplies of electricity and exchange rate rules that force businesses to buy Zimbabwean dollars at official rates while paying significantly higher parallel-market rates for their supplies.

    Leaf merchants also want to make sure the targeted volume increases are achieved sustainably.

    Leaf merchants also want to make sure the tobacco transformation targeted volume increases are achieved sustainably. “We support the government’s goals, but we need to make sure that they are aligned with customer expectations,” says Alex Tait, managing director of MTC, a subsidiary of Alliance One International. Leading cigarette manufacturers these days expect their tobacco to be produced in line with strict environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, which means keeping close track of agricultural practices, labor conditions and environmental impacts, among other issues.

    The shift from commercial tobacco production to smallholder cultivation has put tremendous pressure on Zimbabwe’s forests. Before the land reforms at the start of the century, the bulk of Zimbabwe’s crop was produced by about 1,500 commercial farmers, who at their peak in the late 1990s brought some 239 million kg to market. Today, similar volumes are cultivated by nearly 160,000 growers, the vast majority (85 percent) of them smallholder farmers. But whereas the commercial farmers use primarily coal to cure their tobacco, the smallholders rely mostly on wood, creating a voracious demand for timber.

    In a presentation to industry stakeholders, including the ministry of agriculture, which drew up the TVCTP, the tobacco industry stressed the importance of meeting ESG objectives, noting that there is no point in growing additional volumes if you cannot sell them. Failing to fulfill ESG requirements, the industry cautioned, will prompt customers to source their leaf elsewhere, leaving the Zimbabwean tobacco grower impoverished.

    The trade insists the tobacco value chain transformation plan’s objectives must be consistent with customers’ ESG expectations.

    To ensure sustainable growth, tobacco merchants have been developing renewable sources of curing fuel by establishing woodlots and providing farmers with seedlings. Financed by a voluntary leaf dealer contribution, the industry’s Sustainable Afforestation Association has been planting trees since 2013 and is preparing for its first harvest next season. Despite its considerable efforts, the organization still does not have enough renewable wood to cure the current crop, let alone the additional volumes described in the transformation plan.

    One of the constraints, according to industry representatives, is access to land close to the tobacco growing areas, which has been mostly in state hands since the land reform program. The prime lands for timber production are in the east of the country, which means added cost for transportation. The government meanwhile collects levies from growers to invest in reforestation, although critics say it is unclear how the money is being invested.

    In addition to increasing its supply of sustainable wood, the industry is working to reduce its consumption by helping farmers adopt more efficient curing systems. Innovative designs, such as the rocket barn, allow growers to reduce their wood consumption by up to 50 percent, although costs are a hurdle. At $2,000 per unit, the rocket barn is out of reach for the typical smallholder tobacco grower. The industry is also researching alternative energy sources, such as gas, biomass and briquettes, to curtail deforestation.

    The opportunity for Zimbabwe to extract more value from its tobacco industry begins and ends with the ability of the farmer to make a living income.

    Meanwhile, the trade is contributing to vertical growth by helping small-scale growers increase their yields. Benefiting from tailored inputs and agronomic extension services, contracted growers have in recent years increased their productivity to an average of 1,700 kg per hectare, a figure the industry hopes to drive up to 2,200 kg per hectare in the future. The national average, which includes independent growers selling at auction, is estimated at only 800 kg per hectare, however, suggesting considerable opportunity for growth.

    “In well-managed contract schemes, with the right service levels, the right inputs and the right advice, you can get very good yields,” says Mason. “That needs to roll out throughout the industry. There is definitely opportunity for the newer contractors or the smaller contractors to push through better programs.”

    Zimbabwe’s regulator, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, is in the process of implementing a minimum input standards package recommended by the TLEAZ—not only to increase the crop size and benefit the national economy but also to improve the profitability and livelihoods of individual growers. As all stakeholders interviewed for this article acknowledged, the latter will be crucial for the success of the tobacco transformation plan. After all, the opportunity for Zimbabwe to extract more value from its tobacco industry begins and ends with the ability of the farmer to make a living income.

    Taco Tuinstra is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial director.Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, he coordinates the work of staff writers and contributors.On his watch, Tobacco Reporter has won several awards for editorial excellence.Since joining the magazine in 1997, Taco has visited more than 75 countries to meet industry representatives in their markets and to report tobacco news firsthand.
  • ‘Not Really a Gamble’

    ‘Not Really a Gamble’

    Leaf Dealers Look Forward to Receiving a Good Quality Crop

    By Taco Tuinstra

    While the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board had yet to release official figures at the time of Tobacco Reporter’s visit to Zimbabwe in early April, traders were expecting farmers to bring 230 million kg to market in the 2023 selling season. That compares with 212 million kg in 2022, which in turn was up from the two years prior.

    The increase was due in part to good climate conditions despite the influence of an El Nino. The periodically recurring atmospheric phenomenon typically results in wetter than normal conditions in southern Africa from December to February. But in the event, it wasn’t all that wet.

    “The crop was planted on time, and weather patterns were generally favorable,” says Alex Tait, managing director of Mashonaland Tobacco Co., a subsidiary of Alliance One International. As is the case throughout Africa, curing space proved a constraint in Zimbabwe this year. Fast ripening in some areas created some quality challenges toward the tail-end of the season, but nothing pointing to disaster. “It was a normal season,” says Tait.

    Traders at the Tobacco Sales Floors in Harare
    (Photos and video: Taco Tuinstra)

    Zimbabwean volumes have largely recovered from the disruption that followed the government’s land reform program, which shifted the emphasis from commercial growing to small-scale farming during the 2000s and at one point saw the crop plummet to 50 million kg. 

    The quality produced by smallholders has also been steadily improving, thanks in part to contractors’ extensive support of their growers. This season, overall quality is fair to good, according to Mark Mason, managing director of Zimbabwe Leaf Tobacco Co. (ZLT), which is associated with Universal. “Despite the majority being smallholder, the Zimbabwean tobacco grower is a good farmer,” he says. “If they are serviced well, they produce a very acceptable crop.” In fact, Zimbabwe’s combination of climate, soils and skills means tobacco merchants have come to expect a decent crop, observes Mason. “It’s not really a gamble for us—unless the weather gets very poor,” he says.

    Volumes this year were further boosted by good pricing in the 2022 marketing season, which spurred growers’ interest. What’s more, the payment modalities have recently improved, with growers receiving a higher share of their earnings in U.S. dollars as opposed to the less valuable local currency.

    Meanwhile, pricing has become quite competitive in the contracting arena. “We have a situation in  which more contractors are chasing fewer growers,” says Mason. “If you want to expand in this market, you have to coax a grower to come and join you. You have to argue your case, explain why he should leave X and join Y. The pricing this year will take into account some of those costs.”

    Mason expects an increase of about 9 percent in the average per-kilo tobacco price this year, also as a result of the rising cost of production. The price of fertilizer, in particular, spiked in the run-up to this growing season, mostly due to the war in Ukraine, which traditionally supplied many of the raw materials needed for fertilizer production.

    At the same time, erratic power supply in Zimbabwe forced commercial growers, who need electricity to operate their curing barns, to use diesel generators, which is more expensive than pulling power from the grid. The shortages were driven by low water levels in Lake Kariba, which houses a major hydroelectric power dam and is crucial to regional energy security, and maintenance at the Hwange power station. Power supply will likely remain a concern going forward, but Tait is cautiously optimistic that recent rains in the catchment areas along with progress at Hwange will help ease the shortages next season.

    Despite the anticipated price hikes, exporters expect demand for Zimbabwean leaf to be firm again this season. Tait believes part of that is due to the lingering impact of Covid. “People thought that smoking would go down during the pandemic, but it actually went up,” he says. So the global crop size dipped over the past two years even as cigarette consumption increased. “Of course, there is a question about how long that situation will last,” says Tait. “Zimbabwe’s crop has gone up, as has Brazil’s, so we may see demand level out next year.”

    The switch to smallholder growing has radically changed the leaf merchants’ business models. “In the past you used to go and buy what you liked and sell it; now you get a crop throw and you have to figure out how to market that effectively,” says Mason. With contracting accounting for 90 percent of Zimbabwean volumes, dealers these days operate extensive agronomic departments. ZLT alone has well over 100 on-the-ground field staff along with countless cars and motorbikes to service its growers in the countryside. The merchants have also (reluctantly) assumed the role of financiers because the new growers have no collateral with which to secure bank loans. Post land reform, all agricultural land belongs to the state in Zimbabwe.

    While dealing directly with thousands of smallholders is a herculean logistical exercise with a huge impact on cost, the shift has also had an unexpected advantage for the tobacco merchants. “In a way, it’s what has allowed us to tick the right boxes because now everything is traceable,” says Tait. “The manner in which ESG [environmental, social and governance] requirements have evolved in recent years is working out for us because we are right down to the farm level to make sure that what the grower is doing is compliant.”

    Taco Tuinstra is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial director.Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, he coordinates the work of staff writers and contributors.On his watch, Tobacco Reporter has won several awards for editorial excellence.Since joining the magazine in 1997, Taco has visited more than 75 countries to meet industry representatives in their markets and to report tobacco news firsthand.
  • Excitement at First Shisha Tobacco Sales

    Excitement at First Shisha Tobacco Sales

    Photo: Cavendish Lloyd

    Sales of shisha tobacco, which opened for the first time at the tobacco sales floor in Harare on April 21, were met with excitement by farmers and buyers, reports The Herald.

    Shisha tobacco is proving to be popular in Zimbabwe, and the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has licensed one company, Cavendish Lloyd Tobacco, to support shisha tobacco production in the country.

    The first bale of shisha tobacco sold for $5, and the highest price was $5.30.

    “Today, I delivered 15 bales,” said Moses Machine, a Mutorashanga farmer who expects to deliver 400 bales to the sales floors. “There are several advantages associated with growing this type of crop. Plant population will double the Virginia tobacco. Shisha uses less fertilizer. Since it is the first year, we are not sure where the viability is, but with time, we are going to have a proper analysis. There is use of less labor and fertilizers. In terms of costs of production, there is a difference compared to the Virginia one. There are plenty of good points, but, yes, we may encounter challenges since it is the beginning..

    “I recommend farmers to grow this type of tobacco; no curing using firewood, hence it is cheap to cure. Farmers need to maximize production; air is the major source of the energy. Shisha tobacco production is a welcome development.”

    “The tobacco needs very special attention because the plant or the leaf is very thin, so if you don’t carefully handle it, the leaf itself breaks,” said Jayson Scott, a Marondera farmer. “I have delivered 15 bales, and if everything goes well, l will increase hectarage.”

    TIMB Sales Supervisor Pelagia Marumahoko said the regulator is expecting about 100 hectares for shisha production this season, and markets are readily available in Africa.

    “We have licensed Cavendish Lloyd Tobacco to contract growers growing shisha at the present moment. It doesn’t only contract our farmers, but it also processes this tobacco locally. So far, we have 12 farmers who grow shisha tobacco throughout all the tobacco growing regions,” said Marumahoko.

    Chemical applications for pest and insect control and growth period are the same as other tobacco cultivars such as Virginia tobacco. The crop is reaped when the leaves have completely lost all the nitrogen and have fully ripened. It is cured using the same flue-curing barns, temperature and humidity regimes for the Virginia flue-cured tobacco, and it takes four days to five days to complete curing.

    The cured leaf has to have low nicotine content to protect the smoker from inhaling huge amounts of nicotine since shisha tobacco is about constant smoke inhalation in huge quantities.

  • TIMB Introduces Natural Air Curing Systems

    TIMB Introduces Natural Air Curing Systems

    Image: THAWISAK | Adobe Stock

    The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) in Zimbabwe has introduced a natural air curing system (NACS), reports New Zimbabwe.

    The new NACS will help prevent farmers from losing leaf due to lack of space in curing facilities. NACS is a drying technique that forces ambient air through the leaf to attain acceptable moisture content.

    “This significantly reduces farmers’ post-harvest yield losses and ultimately improves farmer viability, profitability and sustainability,” said the TIMB.

    “The introduction of this natural Virginia tobacco product to the Zimbabwe tobacco industry is in line with the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan, which has the farmer at the core of the transformation and seeks to improve productivity and sustainability.”

    “The introduction of new systems and practices will also aid in addressing side marketing.  Farmers’ cost of production will be reduced, increasing profitability, thereby reducing farmer incentive to side market.”

    “Atlas Agri (Private) Limited will be joining TIMB to spearhead this new initiative,” added the TIMB.

  • Zimbabwe: Prices up as Auctions Open

    Zimbabwe: Prices up as Auctions Open

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Tobacco prices in Zimbabwe fetched $4.35 per kg at the start of the new marketing season today, up from $4.20 last year, reports Reuters.

    “It looks like we are going to have a good crop,” said Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) Chairman Patrick Devenish, who credited favorable rainfalls.

    The TIMB expects the country to produce 230 million kg of tobacco this year, 8.5 percent more than in 2022.

    Tobacco land use grew to 117,000 hectares this year from 110,000 hectares in 2022, according to the TIMB. The industry also saw an increase in the number of tobacco farmers to 148,527 this year from 123,000 in 2022.

    The tobacco industry contributes nearly $1 billion to export earnings every year, Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said on March 8. Government statistics showed it accounted for more than 12 percent of exports in January.

    Zimbabwe is currently implementing a “Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan,” which seeks to extract more profit from the sector by processing raw leaf into higher-value products.

    “We seek to localize the financing of tobacco. We wish to transform the tobacco sector so we don’t export value,” Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka said on March 8.

    “This industry is on the cusp of growth.”

  • Zimbabwe: Optimism Ahead of Sales Season

    Zimbabwe: Optimism Ahead of Sales Season

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Zimbabwe’s tobacco auctions will open tomorrow, March 8, with an official ceremony at the Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF), reports Chronicle. Although the auctions sell only around 5 percent of Zimbabwe’s crop, they are the major price setter and must thus occur first. Deliveries for the contract crop are scheduled to start March 9.

    This year’s marketing season kicks off earlier than last year because favorable rainfall has resulted in sufficient volumes of cured and graded tobacco to start selling. In addition to the TSF, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has licensed the Premier Tobacco Auction Floor and the Boka Tobacco Floors to auction tobacco this season.

    Farmers interviewed by The Herald said they were optimistic about the upcoming sales season, citing favorable growing conditions and good quality leaf.

    “This year’s yield will be better than the previous season due to the implementation of best agronomic practices,” Victor Mariranyika, president of the Tobacco Farmers’ Union Trust, was quoted as saying. “In terms of agronomic practices, the farmers have been looking after the crop very well, from seedbed to the auction, and we don’t expect any damage to the tobacco as a result of the rains.”

    Tobacco growers will receive 85 percent of their earnings in U.S. dollars this year, up from 75 percent last. The remainder will be distributed in local currency. About 160,000 farmers grow tobacco in Zimbabwe, which is then exported to 60 countries.

  • Zimbabwean Farmers Anticipate High Prices

    Zimbabwean Farmers Anticipate High Prices

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe are expecting high marketing prices this year following a good growing season and improved curing methods, reports The Herald

    “Our assessment of the tobacco crop to date promises higher yields and improved quality. This view is shared by a number of contractors,” said Rodney Ambrose, CEO of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association. “It is in this regard that we are anticipating average prices to be firmer this season.

    “There is also a level of increased demand for the crop, so this will help lift the average prices.”

    “Farmers are anticipating high prices as the quality of the crop in the field is very good,” said Shadreck Makombe, president of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union. “All that is left is for farmers to do proper curing. We encourage farmers not to be extravagant and [to] save their hard-earned money and be able to finance next season’s operations.”

    “The 85 percent foreign currency retention increase is surely going to put more money in farmers’ pockets,” said Makombe.

    According to Edward Dune, vice president of the Tobacco Farmers Union Trust, all farmers are looking forward to a rewarding season. “The playground has to be level in terms of pricing,” he said. “Let the price matrix reward on the basis of quality. No merchant should be a farmer’s favorite given that some are paying more for the same quality to avoid side marketing.”

    The Tobacco Farmers Union Trust is lobbying for viable prices to enhance sustainability, according to the organization’s president, Victor Mariranyika.

  • Zimbabwe Marketing Dates Announced

    Zimbabwe Marketing Dates Announced

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    The auction tobacco marketing season opens March 8 with contract tobacco sales opening the next day, reports The Herald.

    “All stakeholders are advised that the 2023 auction tobacco marketing season opens on Wednesday, 8 March,” said Emmanuel Matsvaire, acting chief executive of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board. “Sales at licensed auction floors will start at 9 a.m. Contract tobacco sales will open on Thursday, 9 March.”