LEAF NEWS
Zimbabwe’s tobacco industry, a key agricultural sector regarded as the backbone of the country’s economy, is facing an uncertain future with tobacco growers recently rioting at auction floors due to low prices being offered amid concerns about poor quality production. Experts say the new tobacco growers – mostly communal farmers who have ditched growing the staple maize crop and other grains – have been bringing lower grade tobacco known as primings to the floors.
Every year sees a huge number of players registering to grow the golden leaf. For the 2014-15 growing season, there were 28,769 new registrations with Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), Zimbabwe’s tobacco regulatory board. To date, about 93,450 growers have registered for the 2015 season as compared to about 102,396 who had registered by the same period last year, and new registration for 2015 are now at 17,466.
Over the past 15 years, the sector has suffered following prolonged years of economic recession. TIMB, however, is optimistic the agricultural sector, driven by a resurgent tobacco industry, will recover. TIMB c.e.o. Dr. Andrew Matibiri told the African News Agency (ANA): “TIMB believes that national production levels will be determined by the tobacco markets and availability of funding. The production of 216 million kg in 2014, following a very wet 2013/14 growing season, indicates that the country has the potential to produce more.”
The 2014 auctioning season showed some signs of recovery, with 216 million kg of tobacco going under the hammer at the country’s three floors – Boka Tobacco Auction Floors, Tobacco Sales Floor, and Premier Tobacco Floors. But things are not looking that rosy this year as concerns over the quality of the crop new farmers are bringing to the auction floors dominated discussions.