Tag: Zimbabwe

  • Zim Growers Warned Against ‘Nesting’

    Zim Growers Warned Against ‘Nesting’

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Farmers caught “nesting” their bales—sneaking nontobacco-related material (NTRM) into tobacco bales to increase bale weight or concealing bad tobacco under good-quality leaf to deceive buyers—can expect serious repercussions, reports The Herald, citing a social media post by Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) warned.

    Cases of tobacco nesting have been increasing, according to the regulator.

    “Warning! Tobacco nesting is a serious crime, desist from it. This can result in arrest, hefty fines, criminal prosecution and grower deactivation,” the TIMB posted on X (formerly Twitter).

    Nested tobacco is forfeited to the TIMB, and grower numbers required to participate in sales are blocked. Offending farmers must pay a fine of $30 per violation.

    “As TIMB, we are conducting training and awareness campaigns to discourage the sale of nested tobacco. Nesting is an offense that incurs a fine and results in the loss of tobacco,” said Chelesani Tsarwe, TIMB public affairs officer.

    The TIMB is also working to curb side marketing and to create a transporter compliance framework.

     “In this regard, losses are minimized, thereby increasing farmer profitability and viability for improved livelihoods by 2025,” said Blessing Dhokotera, TIMB head of operations. “The framework seeks to counter criminal activities like side marketing, tobacco bale theft, bale swapping and forgery on stop order launching.”

    The TIMB also urged farmers to avoid plastic materials in packing or storing tobacco as they contaminate the tobacco leaf.

  • Leaf Earnings up in Zimbabwe

    Leaf Earnings up in Zimbabwe

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Zimbabwean tobacco growers had earned $143 million from the sale of 41 million kg of flue-cured tobacco by Day 17 of this year’s marketing season—nearly 50 percent more than they pocketed after the same number of selling days last year, reports The Herald.

    Contract floors accounted for 94 percent of the tobacco volumes after taking delivery of 38,432,613 kg while their auction counterparts stood at 6 percent with 2,583,334 kg, according to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB). 

    Farmers earned $9.25 million and $134 million under the auction and contract system respectively. The average auction price surged 16 percent from $3.09 per kilogram on Day 1 to $3.58 by Day 17 while contract floors, which opened one day after the auctions, rose 13 percent, from $3.09 by Day 2 to $3.49 by Day 17.

    The number of bale rejections was 38 percent lower than during the comparable 2023 period, a development that the TIMB attributes to the training of farmers on grading, presentation and bale handling, among other skills.

    Despite the increases, some farmers expressed dissatisfaction with the current average price, which they believe should be higher, as supply is curtailed due to the El Nino drought.

    In Brazil, the industry has been paying record prices due to a lower-than-expected Virginia tobacco harvest. According to the growers’ association Afubra, the average per-kilo price in Brazil was up by nearly 20 percent over that paid during the 2022-2023 marketing season.

  • Zimbabwe Seed Producer Shuts Down

    Zimbabwe Seed Producer Shuts Down

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Zimbabwe Tobacco Seed Association (ZTSA) has stopped production and is closing down after failing to secure parent seed, reports NewsDay. The company expressed fears that this will affect the billon-dollar tobacco leaf sector.

    “We have not had the chance to get parent seed for the past six years, and it pushed us out of business,” said Mildred Kamusasa, ZTSA executive committee chairperson. “We had over 400 workers as part of the seed production company. Sadly, the company is not relocating, but we are shutting down operations and liquidating.

    “There is no hope that we can come back into play any time soon.”

    “While the closure of ZTSA is disheartening, rest assured that the supply of tobacco seed will continue without any compromise,” said Tatenda Mugabe, public relations and communications officer at Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Research Board.

  • Zimbabwe Aims for $60 Billion Tobacco Industry

    Zimbabwe Aims for $60 Billion Tobacco Industry

    Zimbabwe plans to create a $60 billion tobacco industry by 2028, according to The Herald.

    The government is currently working to increase processing and value addition of tobacco from 2 percent to more than 30 percent to boost earnings.

    Zimbabwe currently earns about $1 billion from its annual tobacco exports, which is 6 percent of the global market.

    “In terms of the value transformation strategy, we must tap into the value of our tobacco,” said Obert Jiri, permanent secretary for Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, noting that the tobacco produced is worth over $60 billion when fully processed across the value chain.

    “We understand that most of our tobacco is exported, and the strategy is to tap into that value chain. We are happy that some are doing cigars, some little value addition in terms of cigarette production. The strategy we have as a government is really to ensure that we encourage investments in proper value addition so that we don’t export our raw materials.”

    According to Kutsaga CEO Frank Magama, the board is breeding tobacco seeds for international markets. “We have trials that are happening in Italy, Brazil, China, and our varieties are also grown in China. The direction that we take from the government, in terms of breeding, is that we must make sure that we have quality products. We excel in tobacco, so our products are now found in the region where we are able to earn foreign currency for the country,” he said.

    The Kutsaga Tobacco Research Board recently introduced climate-smart tobacco varieties, enabling farmers to continuously have good harvests despite climate change and new pathogens.

    Zimbabwe’s plans are part of the government’s ambitious Tobacco Value Chain Transformation plan.

  • Harare to Hosts First WT Africa Conference

    Harare to Hosts First WT Africa Conference

    Zimbabwe will host Africa’s first World Tobacco Africa Conference and Expo May 15–16, reports The Sunday Mail. The conference is set to host over 2,000 senior tobacco professionals from across Africa.

    The conference is organized by Quartz Business Events and held in partnership with the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).

    The event’s theme is “From Seed to Success: A New Era for African Leaf Tobacco.” The conference will serve as a platform for industry leaders to share knowledge, address challenges and discover innovative solutions to ensure the continued prosperity of the African tobacco industry, according to The Sunday Mail.

    “Zimbabwe has been afforded the opportunity to host the first-ever World Tobacco Africa Expo, and this will be an opportune time for the country to showcase a new business platform for the African leaf tobacco industry,” said Tapiwa Chimedza, TIMB head of business development. “As the host country, we will create a platform for discussion on a new era for African leaf tobacco.”

    “At least 2,000 senior and key professionals will take part in the program, which is a huge resource to tap from,” he said.

    “Hosting such a global event here in Harare brings with it more opportunities for our country,” he added.

    “The enthusiasm and the wealth of ideas shared with associations, merchants and growing groups alike have solidified our conviction that the inaugural World Tobacco Africa Conference is poised for great success,” said Tony Crinion, Quartz Business Events managing director, after a tour of local manufacturers and industry stakeholders in Harare.

    Zimbabwe is Africa’s largest tobacco producer, followed by Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique.

    For more information about the WT Africa conference, click here.

  • Zimbabwe: Auction Prices Hit Record High

    Zimbabwe: Auction Prices Hit Record High

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Tobacco prices on Zimbabwe’s auction floors hit a record high of $5.05 per kilogram, the highest price in 10 years. The previous high was $4.99 per kilogram.

    The increase comes primarily from “freed-funded” tobacco, which is grown by individual farmers and accounts for 7 percent of the total crop, according to The Herald.

    The remainder of the tobacco crop is funded under contract schemes that are mainly sponsored by foreign companies.

    Auction prices have increased 26 percent year-over-year while contract prices have increased 13 percent, according to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board. The auction floor price increase has reignited calls for an increase in local financing for tobacco growing.

    “The continued reliance on contract farming after two decades suggests there might be deeper issues with the model itself,” said Tobias Musara, a Harare-based development economist. “Ideally, a few seasons of participation should equip the farmers for self-sufficiency. This dependence on contract financing needs to be addressed to ensure long-term benefits for our local farmers.”

    Contract farming began around 2004, a few years after the government confiscated commercial farms and distributed the land among smallholder growers.

  • Zim Growers Worried About Price Fixing

    Zim Growers Worried About Price Fixing

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Tobacco growers in Zimbabwe have voiced concern over tobacco leaf prices at the auction floors, which have capped out at $4.99 per kilogram compared to around $6 per kilogram on the contract floors, reports NewsDay. Growers are worried about buyer collusion.

    “The season is progressing reasonably well, even though we have raised concern about the $4.99 cap, which is on the auction system, and for us, it’s a kind of a sign of collusion, which is worrisome,” Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association President George Seremwe said. “We cannot have the auction system offering lower prices than the contract.”

    “The contract has gone up to $6.90, and for us, there is a discord,” Seremwe said. “The same buyers who are buying at the auction are the same buyers who are also buying at the contract.

    “So that’s why we suspect there’s collusion. We would want the prices to go up because if you look at the production cost, it was quite high.”

    Tobacco growing will not be sustainable for the farmers due to poor auction floor prices, according to Seremwe. “So, the growth of tobacco has to be attractive by the prices. We know the price world over has gone up, so we also expect the prices to go up than what is currently prevailing on the market,” he said.

    “We talk of sustainability of the farmer. As farmers, we think it is not sustainable at the moment.”

    Farmers expected the prices to be better compared to last year, said Shadreck Makombe, president of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union. “The prices are not yet at what we would have expected,” Makombe said. “We would have expected a few coins up.”

    “Again, it’s the only start of the marketing season, [and] most of the tobacco being sold there is primary leaf tobacco, not quite what we want,” he said. “We expect the prices to firm up or to increase for the farmers to get anything meaningful from their crop.”

  • Cigarette Manufacturing to Increase

    Cigarette Manufacturing to Increase

    Image: www.akolosov.art

    A cigarette manufacturing plant is under construction in Zimbabwe, with the expectation that it will increase manufacturing capacity by 50 percent, reports The Herald.

    “(The) Cabinet would like to report that the value of local tobacco purchased has increased from $650 million in 2022 to $897 million in 2023,” said Jenfan Muswere, minister of information, publicity and broadcasting services. “Out of this amount, tobacco purchases using local financing were $61.4 million in 2022 and $73.2 million in 2023. For the 2024 tobacco marketing season, the recorded intentions for local financing amount to $81 million.”

    “There are opportunities to increase the level of value addition and beneficiation of tobacco into cut rag and production of cigarettes, from 2 percent of total tobacco produced to 30 percent,” said Muswere. “Currently, seven cigarette manufacturers operate in Zimbabwe, with a combined production capacity of around 5 billion cigarette sticks per annum.

    “An additional cigarette manufacturing plant is under construction, with a current production of 1.6 billion sticks per year. The plant will increase capacity by 50 percent in the first half of 2024.”

  • Sales Reach $13 Million as Season Starts

    Sales Reach $13 Million as Season Starts

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Tobacco sales at Zimbabwe’s auction and contract floors has reached 1 million kg by day three of the marketing season. Farmers have earned $13 million so far, a 216 percent increase from the $4 million earned in the comparable period last year, according to The Herald.

    Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) statistics show that there has been a 167 percent increase in volume sales by day three at both auction and contract floors, from 1,555,090 kg to 4,148,403 kg.

    The average auction price is $3.15 per kilogram. Contract floors have recorded an average price of $3.11 per kilogram. The overall average price this year is $3.12 per kilogram, an 18 percent increase from the $2.63 per kilogram seen last year.

    This year, there was a 201 percent increase in total bales and a 62 percent decrease in bale rejection.

    The highest price seen on the auction floor was $4.99 per kilogram while the highest price on the contract floor was $6.50 per kilogram. The lowest price on both floors was $0.10 per kilogram.

    “The $4.99 per kilogram price ceiling has not yet been broken, and we have noticed a worrying trend where contract pricing seems not to make use of the prices determined on the auction to inform their pricing,” said George Seremwe, chairman of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association (ZTGA). “This discord needs to be addressed by having more tobacco on auction for competition.”

  • Call for Climate-Proof Agriculture in Zimbabwe

    Call for Climate-Proof Agriculture in Zimbabwe

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Smallholder farmers, who are the backbone of Zimbabwe’s tobacco farming industry, should have access to affordable irrigation facilities, according to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Anxious Masuka.

    This years tobacco growing season was impacted by an El Nino-induced drought, which caused leaf volumes to be 10 percent below those of last year’s record 296 million kg.

    “We must take innovative ways to climate-proof agriculture,” Masuka was quoted as saying at the opening of the marketing season by The Star. “Seventy-five percent of our tobacco is grown by the smallholder sector who invariably depend on the rains to plant their tobacco.”

    The start of the tobacco marketing season is an important event in Zimbabwe’s farming calendar, as tobacco is the country’s largest agricultural export.

    Tobacco exports earned Zimbabwe nearly $1 billion in 2023, according to the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board.

    This year the first bale of the golden leaf was auctioned for $4.92 per kg compared to $4.35 last year.