Tag: Zimbabwe

Larger Leaf Quality and Volume Expected

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
A significantly higher volume and quality of tobacco leaf is expected in Zimbabwe this year due to good rains during the farming season, reports Xinhua News.
The quality of the crops is good and will likely bring in high prices, according to George Seremwe, president of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association.
“This year, we have got a very good crop,” said Seremwe. “Even the dry land crop, which is rain-fed, is looking like the irrigated crop because the rains were quite good.”
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board is still assessing crops to determine the expected output.
February 13, 2023
Zimbabwe Debates Curing Fuel Options

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Tobacco grower representatives in Zimbabwe are urging contractors to provide their members with sustainably produced wood rather than coal for leaf curing, according to an article in The Herald.
The compliance enforcement framework (CEF) agreement signed by tobacco buyers and the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board requires contractors to fund tobacco growing inputs, such as fertilizer and curing fuel.
Under the CEF, a 1 hectare pack for small-scale production includes 500 kg of coal or its sustainable wood equivalent as curing fuel.
While most contractors are providing farmers with coal, grower representatives believe wood is more sustainable. “We think wood of an equivalent to the coal component would be better as less charges would be incurred by farmers in U.S. dollar terms,” said Tobacco Farmers Union Trust Vice President Edward Dune.
“Sustainable wood is the way forward as coal use is unsustainable and will likely be phased out in the near future if the current lobbying by environmentalists prevails,” echoed Rodney Ambrose, CEO of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association.
In 2021, the Zimbabwean government crafted the tobacco value chain transformation plan, which seeks to increase tobacco production to 300 million kg by 2025.
The plan emphasizes sustainable production through reforestation programs, fuel-efficient curing facilities and the use of alternative energy sources for curing. It calls for research into the suitability as a fuel source of alternative tree species, such as giant bamboo.
February 6, 2023
Buyer Loses License Over Side Marketing

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) canceled Leanrise Tobacco’s buying license after finding the company guilty of side marketing, reports Zimeye.
According to the TIMB, Leanrise illegally leased its license to Munyasha Tobacco.
Leanrise denied the accusations and accused the regulator of misinterpreting the law. “We are not side marketing and there is nothing to substantiate any allegation of such nature,” the company said.
Leanrise argued it is entitled to have agents to advance its business. “Any tobacco purchased by the use of the Leanrise license is tobacco purchased for Leanrise,” the company noted. “In any event, the Leanrise license cannot be used to purchase tobacco from growers who are not contracted with Leanrise.”
The TIMB was unpersuaded by Leanrise’s defense, however. “After considering the contents therein, your justification for leasing your license to Munyasha Agro Pvt. Ltd. and all circumstances surrounding the matter, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has decided to cancel your license in terms of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing (Prohibition of side marketing) Regulations, 2022 SI 77 of 2022,” the TIMB wrote.
January 13, 2023
Zimbabwe Keen to Move up the Value Chain

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
The Zimbabwe government has put in place modalities to ensure value addition for tobacco before export, reports the Zimbabwe Independent.
The government plans to reach its USD5 billion tobacco industry goal by 2025 through beneficiation of the crop, according to Anxious Masuka, minister of lands, agriculture, water and rural resettlement.
“What we want to do is to ensure that there is more value addition and beneficiation of tobacco. We export 98 percent of our tobacco in raw form, thereby exporting jobs and value. It is estimated that we produce more than 200 million kilograms of tobacco, and as it crosses the border, the same tobacco fetches USD15 billion, and we only get USD1 billion,” Masuka said.
“Our tobacco is worth billions on the international market, but as Zimbabwe, we only get USD1 billion. So the government has now put in place the transformation plan to ensure that we increase the volume and also value add so that by 2025 we can have a USD5 billion industry.”
In 2022, Zimbabwe earned USD650 million, up from USD589 million in 2021.
January 12, 2023
Power Shortages Hamper Zim Curing

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Power shortages in Zimbabwe are creating headaches for farmers who rely on electricity to cure their leaf tobacco, according to an article in The Herald.
Due to low water levels, the Zambezi River Authority has ordered the Zimbabwe Power Co. to stop production at its Kariba South hydroelectric plant, which is the largest electricity generator in the country.
The shortfall in power supply from the national grid means that tobacco growers must generate up to 70 percent of their electricity through diesel-driven generators, according to Rodney Ambrose, chief executive of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association, which represents mostly large-scale farmers.
In a letter to the Ministry of Land, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development, Ambrose asked the government to give farmers access to discounted fuel to help prevent losses to the 2022–2023 tobacco crop and an associated decline in foreign currency earnings.
Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s most lucrative export after gold. In the 2022 marketing season, the country earned $650 million, up from $589 million in 2021.
According to Ambrose, the cost of production per hectare is at a record high in Zimbabwe. The power shortage, he warned, has the potential to increase cost to the point where farmers’ tobacco is no longer competitive.
Zimbabwean farmers have bought at least 925 kg of tobacco seed with the capacity to cover 184,999 ha this year, according to the Tobacco Research Board. This would be the largest hectarage ever planted if all the seed sold is sown.
December 9, 2022
Zim Farmers Pleased with Early Tobacco

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Farmers in Zimbabwe’s Karoi and Headlands area have been pleased with the quality of early planted tobacco, reports The Herald.
The crop is generally reported to be in good condition and many small-scale farmers, who rely on rainfall, are still in the process of planting.
This year to date, Zimbabwean tobacco farmers have planted 53,571 ha of tobacco compared with 38,312 ha during the previous growing season, according to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.
Statistics also revealed that about 18,614 ha were put under irrigated tobacco and 34,957 under dryland tobacco.
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board recently increased the number of licensed tobacco contractors to 42 from 39 as more merchants qualified.
Tobacco continues to rank as one of Zimbabwe’s most important non-food crops.
Zimbabwe earned $650 million during the 2022 tobacco marketing season, which closed Oct. 21. The figure was up from $589 million last year.
December 2, 2022
Tobacco Damaged by Fake Chemicals
Photo: Taco Tuinstra
At least 400 ha of irrigated tobacco have been damaged in Zimbabwe after farmers applied counterfeit chemicals to their crop, reports The Sunday Mail.
Following reports of abnormally growing tobacco plants in October, plant health service officers determined that some farmers had used chlorpyrifos, a hazardous pesticide that is banned for use on tobacco and many other crops, according to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).
Remarkably, the symptoms on the affected crops are typically associated with 2,4D-related herbicide damage rather than the use of chlorpyrifos, according to TIMB director for research and extension services Susan Dimbi, who warned farmers against using unregistered agrochemicals.
Zimbabwean police and seed company officials have launched a campaign to crack down on counterfeit agricultural products, which are generally sold at considerably lower prices than genuine products.
November 21, 2022
Iranian Tobacco Mulls Investment in Zimbabwe

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
The Iranian Tobacco Co. wants to invest in Zimbabwe to reduce the cost associated with buying tobacco through middlemen, reports The Sunday Mail. Among the areas the Iranians are targeting are irrigation, curing and mechanization. They also want to contract with farmers and set up factories in Zimbabwe.
The investments were discussed during a visit to Tehran by a delegation led by Zimbabwe First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa.
“We get our needs through agents, and prices go higher for us and also causing Zimbabwean farmers to have little profit,” said Iran’s vice president of commerce and economy, Hamid Gharesheikh, during the meeting.
“We want to get companies to work with directly in Zimbabwe and do away with middlemen. We are under sanctions, and it’s difficult for us to import from other Western countries, but with Zimbabwe, we have a better understanding and for that, our cooperation will be helpful to both of us. We can also supply you with equipment such as tractors and implements for production. We can also supply dryers for curing and processing,” he said.
The proposed cooperation dovetails with Mnangagwa’s passion to economically empower Zimbabwe’s citizenry, especially women and youths, in the effort to attain upper middle-income status for the country by 2030.
During the meeting, Gharesheikh said Iran would prioritize women in its investments.
November 13, 2022
Voedsel Banned From Contracting Farmers

The TIMB headquarters in Harare
(Photo: Taco Tuinstra)
Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has banned Voedsel Tobacco International from contracting farmers this season after failing to pay farmers for two years, reports The Herald.
“Voedsel won’t be participating this year because they owe huge amounts of money to tobacco growers,” an unnamed official told The Herald.
Voedsel Director Tennyson Hwandi blamed “white-owned companies” for working against indigenous tobacco merchants.
“Big tobacco companies are being threatened by Black-owned tobacco companies, and Voedsel being one of the major players has been a target. They are determined to see us closing down,” he was quoted as saying, adding that Voedsel has already been giving its farmers inputs for the upcoming growing season.
A TIMB official said that if Voedsel was indeed issuing inputs, this would be illegal because the regulator had not licensed the company.
With buying facilities in tobacco-growing regions, including Rusape, Marondera and Karoi, Voedsel was among the major financiers of tobacco contract schemes.
Zimbabwe sold 212.7 million kg of tobacco at a value of USD650.3 million during the 2022 tobacco marketing season, compared with 211.1 million kg worth USD589.6 during the previous buying period.
November 8, 2022
Zimbabwe: More Than 12,500 Ha of Tobacco Planted

Photo: YanaKho
Zimbabwean tobacco growers have planted 2,107 ha of dryland tobacco to date this season, reports The Herald, citing data from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).
According to TIMB spokesperson Chelesani Tsarwe, 133,724 farmers have registered to grow tobacco this season compared to 111,063 during the same period last year.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union President Shadreck Makombe told The Herald that tobacco planting was progressing well.
“Dry land tobacco farmers have started planting especially in those areas where the rains fell,” he said. “We will see planting activities intensifying, especially as we go forward from next week onward.”
The area put under irrigated tobacco was 10,483 ha as of Nov. 1, bringing the total hectarage under tobacco to 12,590 ha.
Despite efforts to diversify into other products, tobacco remains one of Zimbabwe’s greatest generators of foreign currency.
During the 2022 tobacco marketing season, Zimbabwe earned USD650 million from tobacco sales, up from USD589 million the previous year.
November 4, 2022