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Elton Manguwo
GOVERNMENT is ramping up efforts to secure a US$200 million investment in tobacco value addition and beneficiation in line with the country’s push to attain a US$5 billion tobacco industry by 2025 through trading in processed tobacco products.
In an interview on Tuesday Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary Dr John Basera said there was need to boost value addition and beneficiation of produce to accelerate the attainment of a US$5 billion tobacco industry by 2025.
“Only 3 percent of the country’s tobacco produce is value-added hence the need to boost processing levels and increase earnings from the crop,” said Dr Basera.
The tobacco industry contributes immensely to the growth of the country’s economy, particularly in the improvement of farmers’ livelihoods.
“Upscaling the value addition and beneficiation of our tobacco will have a multiplying effect of output and value of the crop,” said Dr Basera.
According to the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB), tobacco contributes close to 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) generating up to US$700 million and supporting the livelihoods of 160 000 households.
“The investment will address the need to take up a forward integration approach to marketing the golden leaf to generate revenue in all segments of the value chain,” said Dr Basera.
The US$200 million investment will be pooled from the private sector and off- shore accounts in foreign direct investments.
“The investments will be channelled towards local industry capacitation, as the country currently exports 97 percent of its total tobacco produce leaving only three percent for local cigarette manufacturers,” said Dr Basera.
Presently seven combustible cigarette manufacturers are operational producing only for domestic consumption.
The Zimbabwe flue cured tobacco amounts to 95 percent of all the tobacco produced in the country and has a highly sought after unique flavour, which creates a strong appetite from foreign countries to buy the tobacco.
The permanent secretary added that there was need to up-scale productivity and increase production volumes.
“We need to up-scale our productivity levels from the current two tonnes per hectare to the desired three tonnes per hectare by encouraging modern agricultural practices through farmer training programmes, investing in research and development,” said Dr Basera.
The industry in the world continues to grow at a dynamic rate and estimated to reach US$1 trillion by 2027.
“We are strategically aligning the sector to pocket a fair chunk of the earnings,” said Dr Basera.
Online Reporter