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Tobacco rakes in US$612m

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In an update yesterday, TIMB said the average prices paid this season were firmer than those paid last year.

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI ZIMBABWE has so far this year, sold about 200,4 million kilogrammes of tobacco valued at US$612,4 million, according to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).

In an update yesterday, TIMB said the average prices paid this season were firmer than those paid last year.

TIMB said despite a bad start to the season, characterised by late onset of rains, they were “happy that the season progressed very well”.

“Most areas receiving effective rains around end of November to early December 2021.That was followed by a dry spell which stretched up to end of December,”TIMB said.

Tobacco is one of the leading foreign currency earners for Zimbabwe.

Other top foreign currency contributors include gold and diaspora remittances.

Last year, tobacco earned the country around US$1,2 billion.

The southern African nation, which is the largest producer of tobacco in Africa and the sixth globally, is aiming to turn tobacco farming into a US$5 billion industry by 2025.

This is expected to help it achieve its goal to transform into an upper middle class economy by 2030.

TIMB said as the 2022/23 season commences, its board was working towards standardising the inputs package offered by contractors to growers.

“We have come up with a compliance administration framework that every registered contractor should meet. It stipulates the minimum inputs package for small-scale and large-scale growers,” TIMB said.

“These conditions also stipulate the last date for inputs distribution for those who are contracted. We would like to make it clear that the viability of the tobacco grower is at the epicentre of the tobacco industry’s future. As such, we work to ensure that growers get the most from their production,” TIMB added.

The organisation also said as at August 16, 2022, total seed sales at Tobacco Research Board and the Zimbabwe Tobacco Seed Association for flue-cured tobacco were 731 825kg covering 121 971 hectares.

TIMB has registered a total of 80 314 growers, 814 of which were new growers.

It encouraged growers to renew their grower numbers in time.

It added that all farmers who were operating without grower numbers must apply for them in order to be compliant.

“As a board, we are implementing good corporate governance systems. During the 2021/2022 season, we put in place the Statutory Instrument 77 of 2022 on side marketing to improve compliance and orderly marketing,” the board said.

The board said a total of 423 individuals and 29 companies were convicted and fined for committing different offences during the marketing season.

Working with the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Foundation, TIMB said it was driving action to eliminate all forms of child labour in tobacco production in Zimbabwe by 2025.

With over 90% of the tobacco produced in Zimbabwe being done under contract farming, TIMB is making it mandatory for contractors to have child labour policies and processes in place to accelerate the adoption by tobacco growers.

“The hope is if done correctly, this will then cascade to the small percentage of free growers,” it said.

The TIMB said for more than a decade, players in the tobacco sector in Zimbabwe have been implementing various programmes to drive sustainability in their supply chains.

This commitment, according to TIMB, is embodied in the board’s new vision which is towards sustainable tobacco production, enhanced marketing systems, and improved livelihoods in Zimbabwe by 2025 and its new tagline for livelihoods.

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