Zimbabwe expects 15% rise in tobacco output
(AFP) – 4 hours ago
HARARE — Zimbabwe’s tobacco output is expected to increase by nearly 15
percent this year to reach 150,000 tonnes, an official said on Tuesday,
predicting good returns for farmers.
“The target for this year is 150 million kilogrammes,” Monica Chinamasa,
chairwoman of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board told lawmakers ahead
of the start of the tobacco selling season next week.
The board’s chief executive Andrew Matibiri said farmers would benefit from
the slump in output in Brazil and the United States due to floods, with the
market about 5-10 percent short of tobacco.
“This year is going to be favourable for growers,” Matibiri said.
Last year’s output was at 131 million kilogrammes.
Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s major foreign currency earner, accounting for more
that 50 percent of agricultural exports.
Output is slowly improving, following a decline prompted by President Robert
Mugabe’s land reforms which he said were meant to address colonial
imbalances between white landowners and the black majority.