Tobacco sales for 2016 show that from 201 million kilogrammes, the country earned US$595 million.

THE Tobacco Industry Development Support Institute (Southern Africa) will next week host the 2016 Conference on Tobacco at the Tobacco Hall at the Harare Exhibition Park.

The conference will be held under the theme: Towards Sustainable Agricultural Land Ownership Structure and Financing Model for Tobacco Farmers in Zimbabwe and seeks to highlight the critical role of the financial services sector in promoting Agriculture

Zimbabwe needs US$2 billion in support to agriculture annually but lacks financial resource yet tobacco alone generates more than half a billion dollars annually yet there is no deliberate financial instrument put in place to support it.

It is against this background that the Tobacco Industry Development Support Institute (Southern Africa) has organized this conference.

Tobacco sales for 2016 show that from 201 million kilogrammes, the country earned US$595 million.

The Conference will be held on October 20, 2016 and expected speakers include Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made, Finance and Economic Development minister Patrick Chinamasa, Land and Rural Resettlement Minister Douglas Mombeshora and Agribank Ceo Sam Malaba.