Zim tobacco ranked among the best

Tinashe Kairiza Harare Bureau
Zimbabwe’s tobacco prices which averaged $3,17 per kilogramme this marketing season were the second highest in the world among countries that produce the cash crop, an official said.
Prices in the United States, which hovered around $3,80 per kilogramme, were the highest globally.
The southern African country, which sold an estimated 210 million kilogrammes of tobacco worth $672 million this marketing season, has registered a rapid increase in the number of small-scale growers following implementation of sweeping agrarian reforms in 2000.

Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) Chief Executive Officer Dr Andrew Matibiri said Zimbabwe’s market was lucrative, in part, due to the unique taste and flavour of the country’s tobacco brand whose allure buyers cannot resist.
The Zimbabwean tobacco, he said, was of the highest quality.

“Our average tobacco prices were the second highest in the world behind those of the United States.
“This was driven by the fact that we produce a product that is full of flavour. Cigarette manufacturers are willing to pay a premium for our high quality tobacco,” said Dr Matibiri.

The soaring tobacco prices on the domestic market, said Dr Matibiri, were also propelled by the sharp increase in the number of growers.
To date, 106,456 growers have since registered to grow the crop during the 2014/2015 season as compared to a cumulative 91,278 farmers who produced tobacco the previous season.