Serious dialogue needed on tobacco farming challenges

Obert Chifamba-Agri-Insight

THE 2025 tobacco marketing season recently ended on a high note. It was a season characterised by record-breaking volumes of the golden leaf, hence the subsequent sale of 352,7 million kilogrammes, which saw farmers collectively pocketing US$1,1 billion.

This achievement not only exceeded the ambitious target of 300 million kilogrammes of the golden leaf the country had set for itself but has also set a new benchmark for future growth aiming for 400 million kilogrammes by 2030.

However, beneath this surface of success lie significant, often unnoticed challenges begging for attention to be addressed to allow the farmers to earn the full value of their toil. 

Yes, what the country has achieved easily qualifies for a milestone and the 400 million kg target for 2030 is achievable judging from the current momentum the industry is going at.

Sadly, it was only after the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board’s (TIMB) recent revealed that the country had the capacity to produce 17 billion cigarette sticks annually, but is currently producing 4 billion only and wields the potential for significant growth through increased local manufacturing that I began to see contract arrangements with new lenses.

It became apparent that there is a colossal disparity between what the farmers can achieve in terms of earnings and are contend with and what their contractors make but do not disclose.

It also underscores the untapped potential for local manufacturing and a more equitable distribution of profits.

The discrepancy highlights a major opportunity for the country to expand its tobacco value chain, create more jobs, and increase export earnings yet the situation on the ground currently dictates otherwise.

The TIMB revelations got me and other concerned citizens thinking, as we all realised that there is a significant gap between the earnings reported by farmers and the undisclosed profits of contractors.

This discrepancy not only highlights an opportunity for expanding the tobacco value chain, but also points to the need for greater transparency and fairness in contractor arrangements. By addressing these silent problems, we can unlock new job opportunities and boost export earnings, ultimately fostering a more robust and sustainable tobacco industry.

While this season has undoubtedly brought substantial earnings that have improved farmers’ livelihoods, it has also obscured a crucial truth: the potential for even greater advancement remains unrealised due to systemic inequalities within the industry.

Many farmers are being blinded by the immediate gains thereby failing to scrutinise the broader implications of the tobacco production process, particularly the funding mechanisms.

Essentially, the fact that they have been making decent earnings and managing to do a number of things to improve their lives over the years has tended to blur their vision from seeing the even higher levels to which they can soar if the playing field was even.

I must admit that until recently, I was also blind to the fact that contractors’ reliance on off-shore funding was bleeding the economy and making the farmers poorer with each passing season. Maybe it was because most of the time we are all seized with celebrating the little farmers are making and not interrogating each and every step of the production process including the funding segment to see how it was impacting on the process.

And, although there is a plethora of reasons for this skewed scenario, one issue sticks out like a sore thumb – the absence of a localised funding facility.

This is an issue that has not affected tobacco only, but many other cropping disciplines as well. There is, however, hope that the Government’s intentions to establish a US$50 million buffer fund to revitalise the agriculture sector will change the situation for the better and improve farmers’ access to credit lines.

The situation prevailing in the tobacco industry at the moment that has seen 98 percent of tobacco growers producing the crop under contract arrangements is not healthy for an agro-based economy like Zimbabwe’s that needs to reap meaningful earnings from every crop.

Tobacco merchants who incidentally become the buyers of the crop upon the conclusion of the season, rely on offshore funding, which means the bulk of the money from the sector does not benefit locals.

For every dollar invested in tobacco production, 88 US cents is remitted and only 12 US  cents remain in the country, which means contractors are using the country’s tobacco industry as a means to an end. They come and invest their money and when it is supposed to grow and make an impression on the economy, they take it away, leaving amounts that make very little impact on the economy yet the volumes produced would naturally see the economy booming if re-invested locally.

The big question that be needs to be interrogated is how much is the country and the farmers left with after the season is concluded and the merchants have taken their dues and gone?

If the country and farmers are to share 12 percent of the earnings, then it is something that we should worry about and move to find ways of dealing with and fast lest this bleeding continues.

It is therefore not surprising that calls for the localisation of tobacco funding have been growing louder by the day, with the majority of farmers saying such a development would make services and basic inputs affordable thereby making tobacco farming more sustainable and rewarding than it currently is.

Essentially, such an eventuality would also enable farmers to actively participate in the value chain and also add value to the crop and sell finished products.

It is a fact that Zimbabwean tobacco’s unique selling point on the global market is its great flavour that has seen even countries like China that produce their own crop still being among the chief consumers of the Zimbabwean product, a situation that is both good and bad depending on the beholder.

It is, however, refreshing to note that the Government has since picked the anomaly and has hinted that it is working on eliminating challenges presented by contract farming to ensure both farmers and merchants derive value from the crop.

The Government’s intention is to “ensure the tobacco value chain is stronger and transparent so that there can be equitable distribution of benefits within this value chain”, according to Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka.

It is important for the country to see the disparity between what it is producing and what it can produce in the form of cigarette sticks and take it as an opportunity for growth. There should be increased local production, financing, value addition, and cigarette exports guided by the goal to reach a US$5 billion tobacco industry that should have been attained this year.

Emphasis should therefore be on manufacturing cigarettes for export to markets in the Middle East, former Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Eastern Europe where our tobacco flavour is reportedly on high demand