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THE ongoing power crisis caused in part by depleted water levels in Lake Kariba can be traced to the drought that affected parts of east and central Africa from where the mighty Zambezi snakes till it reaches Lake Kariba.
The drought has been explained in part due to the effects of El Nino Southern Oscillation, and also the massive deforestation occurring in central Africa as individuals and companies harvest hard woods.
All this in the end feeds into climate change with disastrous results for man and agriculture.
At a local level in Zimbabwe while the phenomenal growth in the tobacco sector which has seen Zimbabwe graded as the fifth largest tobacco producer in the world after Brazil, China, India and the United States, has gone a long way in debunking white supremacist myths that sought to cast the land reform programme as a failure; the growth has come at a price.
Many new farmers use wood to cure tobacco and this has led to accelerated deforestation in farming communities.
From a pathetic output of 50 million kg about 10 years ago to 75 million kg and to 100 million kg and rising to 165 million kg in 2013 and 216 million kg in 2014 and close to 200 million in 2015, indeed it has been an upward trajectory for the sector regarded as one the biggest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product, at one time contributing 16 percent.
Indications are that as more and more farmers register with the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board to grow the crop in the coming seasons, production should further increase, and this has a bearing on our forests. As at the close of the marketing season this year, about $600 million had gone into the pockets of the farmers, incredibly transforming their lives.
While it has been encouraging to see rural farmers enjoying good life from their toil on the land growing tobacco, the depletion of forests has become a major cause for concern. It is of concern because deforestation and agriculture in general, contribute to greenhouse gases that cause climate change, which in turn causes drought and other severe weather conditions.
Essentially, it is in the best interest of the country and the farmers to seek alternative energy sources to protect the trees. The cutting down of trees for firewood for household use and to cure tobacco has a huge bearing on climate change as alluded above. The pressure on trees grows every season as more farmers move from other crops to the more lucrative tobacco. The number of new growers increases every season by more than 15 000, with 80 percent coming from the A1 and communal sectors.
Obviously an increase of the hectarage under tobacco causes an increase in the rate at which trees are cut down to cure tobacco and surely sustainable and alternative sources of energy have to be found and adopted without further delay. Tobacco Research Board general manager, Dr Dahlia Garwe says as an immediate intervention, the use of coal, should be encouraged in the communal areas where farmers do not have access to electricity.
To this end we hail the announcement by Hwange Colliery Company that they will lend coal to tobacco farmers as this will go a long way in curbing rampant deforestation that has affected most farming areas.
Speaking at the close of the 2015 marketing season and National Tobacco Workshop held in Harare recently, Hwange Colliery sales and marketing manager Mrs Debra Malandu said the company also planned to cut the price of coal to make it affordable to rural tobacco farmers.
We hope the NRZ will come to the party to ensure that the coal reaches farmers throughout the country.
Online Reporter