dyton mupawaenda
Elliot Ziwira-Senior Writer
China has this year placed an order for over 70 million kilogrammes of packed tobacco from Zimbabwe, which is a significant increase on last year’s figure, as trade between the two countries heightens, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has said.
This comes as tobacco farmers hailed contractors for giving them access to capital and inputs, which has enabled them to equip their farms and timeously transplant their irrigated crop year in, year out.
TIMB acting chief executive officer, Mr Emmanuel Matsvaire, yesterday said Zimbabwe’s tobacco was sought-after globally, indicating that support from China, and contractors like Tian Ze Tobacco Company, have been crucial in ascertaining quality.
“In the past few years, the demand for Zimbabwe tobacco has remained strong. China is our biggest buyer. Almost half of our tobacco is exported to China. As I have gathered, this year, China has placed an order for 70 million kilogrammes of packed tobacco from Zimbabwe, which is an increase from 65 million kilogrammes last year. Without the support from China and Tian Ze, in particular, our tobacco industry would not have revived and grown to where we are today,” said Mr Matsvaire.
This year’s estimated crop size ranges between 240 and 250 million kilogrammes, with 150 million kilogrammes having been delivered so far.
Mr Matsvaire said overall quality for the season is better than that of last year, although the average price on the auction floors is comparatively lower. In contrast, the average price for contract tobacco is higher than in the previous season.
He applauded Tian Ze for supporting the Government’s vision in bettering the livelihoods of farmers and their families by paying the best prices for contract tobacco.
With 200 farmers growing 10 000 hectares of tobacco countrywide, Tian Ze is the biggest supplier of Zimbabwe leaf to China Tobacco.
The Government recently approved the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan to grow the sub-sector to a US$5 billion industry by 2025.The drive behind the plan is to create opportunities aimed at changing outcomes for all stakeholders in the value chain.
Tian Ze Tobacco Company buying manager Mr Lodwin Gatsi said from the anticipated 30 million kilogrammes the company had contracted for, the company has so far purchased over 10 million kilogrammes from farmers on their contract scheme.
Mr Gatsi
“So far, our price is firm, and our average prices, from top to low quality, are all higher than last year’s,” he said.
Since tobacco grown under contract adheres to sustainability issues, global trends are shifting towards contract farming. The overwhelming bulk of the Zimbabwe crop is now grown under contract, getting around the financing needed by communla growers and the beneficiaries of the post-2000 land reform are concerned.
Newly resettled farmers found themselves with swathes of land, the crucial means of production that was envisaged to transform their livelihoods, but, without resources to take them off the ground in a meaningful way.
Banks closed their doors on them owing to lack of collateral security, pointing out that their 99-year leases were not bankable. Hence, resource rich contractors came in to fill the gap.
Dr Howard Marowa, a farmer from Mashonaland West Province, who was delivering his tobacco crop at Tian Ze yesterday, hailed the mutual relations between Zimbabwe and China, saying contract farming was a game changer for him, as it came when he was financially burdened owing to lack of capital.
Dr Howard Marowa
“Contract farming helped me in more than one way. I was probably one of the first farmers to get equipment under contract with Tian Ze.
“Each year, the contractor would give us interest-free capital to buy equipment, such as tractors, centre pivots and combine harvesters, as well as inputs like seed, fertilisers and pesticides, which helped us to grow as farmers,” Dr Marowa, a veterinary surgeon, said.
He said when he joined contract farming in 2008, he was growing only 20 hectares of tobacco. Due to the support he got, and continues to get from Tien Ze, he is now at 180 hectares.
A young farmer, Ms Ordripha Zishiri, from Beatrice, Mashonaland East Province, who was also delivering her crop, said contract farming is the way to go.
Ms Ordripha Zishiri
She said as compared to banks, contract farming allows farmers to borrow at lower interest rates, and reduces the burden of having to repay within a short period.
“We are excited by the support we are getting from Tian Ze. As a second generation farmer, I continued to get support from the contractor after my father’s death.
“We have been able to buy a lot of equipment at the farm. We now have centre pivots, which we didn’t have before. We also bought new tractors and increased our hectarage from 60ha to 140ha,” Ms Zishiri said.
Online Reporter