ZIMBABWE
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) expects Zimbabwe’s tobacco output to rise 5.8% from 189 million kilograms to 200 million kilograms this year, as farmers started selling their crop at the country’s auctions.
Over the last five years, more companies have been financing farmers to produce tobacco, helping to boost production.
Vice president Constantino Chiwenga told farmers at the start of the auction season that, “Government appreciates the coming on board of the tobacco contracting companies where they financed 82%of the crop in the 2017/18 agricultural season.” He also said that the government was extending the tobacco funding model to other crops like wheat and soybean, whose production has remained depressed because farmers lack money to buy seed, fertilizer, and pesticides.