The ManicaPost
Ishemunyoro Chingwere Business Writer
ZIMBABWE has, as at Friday 19 July, exported 68 million kilogrammes of tobacco valued at US$261 million, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board(TIMB) chief executive Dr Andrew Matibiri has said.
The current marketing season’s return signifies a volume increase of 38 percent when compared to the same period last year while in terms of value the jump is currently standing at 20 percent.
In the same period last year,exports stood at 49 million kilograms with a value of US$216 million.
Dr Matibiri gave these statistics on Tuesday while giving oral evidence before the Parliamentary portfolio committee on Lands, Agriculture, Rural Resettlement, Water and Climate chaired by Nembudziya legislator Justice Wadyajena.
The golden leaf marketer also allayed fears that the current market season could record very low yields due to the ElNino induced drought in the last growing season and noted that early indications are that up to 245 million kilogrammes will go under the hammer this season.
If achieved, this will be as light decline from the record breaking 253 million kilogrammes farmers delivered last year and with deliveries standing at 233, 6 million kilogrammes as at last Friday,prospects are high that 245million kilogrammes will be attained.
“So far this year, a total of 68 million kilogrammes of tobacco valued at US$261 million has been exported to 61 destinations across the globe,” said Dr Matibiri.
“In 2018, by the same time, we had exported 49 million kilograms of tobacco at a price of US$216 million. Our major export destinations include the People’s Republic of China, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates and also Belgium.“The United Arab Emirates acts as a conduit for tobacco going into the Middle East and other parts of Asia and also parts of Europe whereas Belgium acts as a conduit for tobacco going into Europe and other parts of the world,” he said.
Small scale uptake Dr Matibiri also told the parliamentarians that there is a new trend of small scale or communal farmers out performing their counterparts in the large or commercial tobacco production sector.
The trend where small scale producers are doing better than commercial producers is however not unique to tobacco farming only. In mining, gold and chrome specifically, small scale miners are now by far accounting for the largest chunk of production in those sectors despite them largely relying on rudimentary mining methods.
“In terms of numbers of growers, we can say that 25 985 are communal area farmers, 16 585 are A1 farmers, 2 640 are what we term small scale commercial farmers – those are farmers that are farming in what we used to call the former African purchase areas, 2 646 are A2 farmers.
“You can see that most of our growers are coming from the communal and A1 sector and that’s also where the bulky of our tobacco is coming from,the A2s or the large scale farmers are not contributing as much as they used to,” Dr Matibiri told parliament. – BH24
