Mash West Correspondent
Chegutu Rural District Council (RDC) is engaging tobacco contractors as part of an elaborate plan to fight deforestation in the tobacco-growing area.

The local authority contends that contractors should include coal as part of the input package it provides to farmers.

Speaking at a full council meeting last week, Chegutu RDC’s agriculture and environmental management committee chairperson, Councillor Rose Matambo, said there was an exponential increase in demand for firewood, especially during the tobacco-curing period.

“There was a very sharp demand for firewood due to tobacco curing during the period under review,” she said. “However, a blitz was also carried out to curb firewood movement in the area,.

“We have managed to plant 15 000 gumtrees at 25 schools in 11 communal wards. We received 3 000 gumtree seedlings, 50 lemon trees and 40 wind breakers from Nyaradzo Funeral Services.”

Council chairperson Mr Farai Charakatenda said there was need for the local authority to come up with strategies that would help preserve trees and fight future deforestation.

“Considering that Chegutu is a tobacco-growing area, there is need for serious strategies to curb firewood demand by farmers, he said.

“Apart from growing trees, we are going to engage tobacco contracting companies so that we agree on the inputs they give Chegutu farmers.”

The RDC, Mr Charakatenda said, should consider partnering contractors to supply coal to farmers.

He said apart from being actively involved in preservation efforts, the local authority should increase surveillance, particularly during the tobacco-curing season.

“It is high time we become totally involved in the preservation of our environment, said Mr Charakatenda. If we fail to do that, what will Chegutu be like in five years? We need to monitor the movement of the firewood during the tobacco-curing period.”

According to the Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe (FCZ), 330 000 hectares of forests are lost annually due to human activities such as land clearing for agricultural expansion and settlements, infrastructure development, including demand for firewood and tobacco curing.

FCZ also says demand for wood contributes 15 percent of the aggregate deforestation rate.