Online Reporter
Elita Chikwati
Agriculture News Editor
Tobacco sales are expected to surpass 320 million kilogrammes (kg) this season, as farmers push for greater participation in the value chain to boost their earnings.
Floors are receiving an average daily delivery of 3 million kg of tobacco, Zimbabwe’s largest agricultural export and one of the country’s major shipments, along with gold, platinum and nickel.
So far, farmers have sold 316,8 million kg of flue-cured tobacco, earning over US$1 billion.
The industry had initially set a target of 280 million kg for this season.
According to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) 316,8 million kg valued at US$ 1 062 940 652 was sold through the contract and auction floors.
This represents an increase of 46,61 from the 216 093 041 kg worth US$744 526 147 that had been sold during the same period last year.
Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association (ZTGA) president, Mr George Seremwe, said farmers had worked hard in producing tobacco and were also positive of surpassing 320 million kg.
“We have the potential to attain a US$5 billion tobacco industry. We have achieved the 300 million kilogrammes under the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan and what is now left is to work on the participation of the grower in the value chain to reap maximum benefits.
“As farmers, we need to organise ourselves through Government support and participate in the industry as a group. This will help us through affordable input provision and will see us cutting on cost of production and also eventually participating in the processing of the crop.
“We also want to participate in the processing and export of the crop so we can get the real value from tobacco production, but this requires us to get organised and structure ourselves as a group,” he said.
Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board chairman Mr Patrick Devenish said he was confident sales could get to 330 million kilogrammes.
“We will definitely surpass 320 million kg and there is a strong possibility that we will get to 330 million kilogrammes.
“The quality of our tobacco is good and our customers are happy, there has been a great improvement in the agronomic skills of our growers,” he said.
Mr Devenish also attributed the high volumes and good quality to the rains received last season.
“We now have to move to value addition of the crop now that we have improved on volumes and quality.
“We have surpassed 10 percent in value addition and are committed to increasing our tobacco processing efforts.
“There is growing interest from stakeholders, progress is being made and more people are expressing interest in processing,” he said.
Farmers have expressed satisfaction with the payment methods this season, confirming that initiatives by farmer unions and the TIMB have helped a lot.
According to the farmers, most contractors are paying on time as outlined by the TIMB framework.
Zimbabwe officially set a record-breaking tobacco production milestone last week, with sales reaching 299 million kilogrammes. The previous record of 296 million kilogrammes was attained in 2023.
