Farmers’ union in partnership with Turkish firm

International covering cultivation, processing and sale of flue-cured and burley tobacco, an official said on Wednesday.
ZPTFU chief executive officer Mr Davet Muzwidzwa said the alliance would go a long way in paving way for agricultural and economic growth of the country.
“By joining forces with Star, we are convinced that ZPTFU will reach its ambitious goal of managing and mentoring some 50 percent of small-scale tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe and to ensure that the quality of life for our members improves significantly,” he said.
“We are looking forward to further growth in farming in the years ahead,” he added.
Mr Muzwidzwa said best practices in the production of different types of tobacco grown in the country for international markets was guaranteed.
“With the financial assistance from Star Tobacco and our educational partner the Zimbabwe Open University, is to perfect and conduct courses designed to educate tobacco farmers in quality and yield performance,” he said.
Established in 2010, ZPTFU has 21 000 smallholder members with 40 000 hectares of farmland.
Smallholder farmers constituted 80 percent of registered growers this past marketing season.
This year, tobacco sales grossed more than US$360 million from the sale of 130 million kg of the golden leaf.
About 60 000 tobacco growers sold their crop at the auction floors this season. Tobacco is the country’s top agricultural foreign currency earner so far.
Over the past two years, agriculture contributed 14,9 percent and 19,1 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product in 2009 and 2010 respec-tively.
This year, agriculture has been projected to contribute 19,3 percent to GDP. – New Ziana.