Zimbabwe, Africa's largest tobacco producer, opened its tobacco-selling season Wednesday, with a speech by the vice president and eager international buyers. The size of the tobacco crop increased despite increased fertilizer prices caused by the war in Ukraine. Zimbabwe expects to harvest 230 million kilograms (254,000 tons) of the golden leaf this season, up from...
Cigarette smuggling has emerged as one of the most lucrative enterprises between Zimbabwe and South Africa, with border authorities seizing contraband worth millions of dollars in recent years. Last month, South African police confiscated cigarettes worth ZAR1,7 million (about USD105,000) from Zimbabwean smugglers who have taken advantage of porous border controls between the two southern African countries...
Zimbabwe, Africa’s biggest tobacco grower and one of the world's top exporters of the nicotine leaf opened its selling season for the crop amid pledges to fight deforestation and child labor in response to pressure from rights groups, environmentalists and international buyers. Almost a month into Zimbabwe’s 2022 tobacco selling season, one of the priorities...
Preparations for the opening of the 2022 tobacco marketing season are advanced with prices expected to firm due to anticipated reduced volumes. This year, auction floors will open on March 30 while contract sales will start on March 31. The bulk of the tobacco will be sold through contract floors as 118 465 registered farmers are...
Tobacco farmers are responsible for a fifth of the total annual deforestation in Zimbabwe, cutting down trees to burn in their curing barns. While the practice is not permitted, enforcement remains lax, and solutions such as establishing woodlots have not proved fast or scalable enough to address the problem. With Zimbabwe expected to...
On the first day of virtual tobacco treaty talks, Zimbabwe joined a small cadre of countries in delaying meaningful negotiations. Its actions come weeks after a new report found Zimbabwe to be the worst country on the continent in safeguarding public policy from tobacco industry interference. The Zimbabwe delegation raised a range of questions and procedural...
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is working on modalities of disbursing a US$60 million tobacco facility this year after the Government decided to start funding production of the crop using local money. The Tobacco Production Localisation Revolving Fund is meant to support growers during the forthcoming season with a yield potential of 60 million...
Officials discovered a stash of unprocessed tobacco worth R10 million at a warehouse in the town's Thorn Park, suspected to have come through the Beit Bridge border post from Zimbabwe. East London police made the bust in collaboration with customs officers. A 31-year-old male suspect was arrested for possession of unprocessed tobacco and bribery. Eastern Cape police...
ABOUT 90% of Zimbabwe’s tobacco farmers have been thrown into a vicious debt trap that could be difficult to exit unless the government announces a payment model that addresses glaring shortcomings, the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA) warned this week. Speaking ahead of the 2021 marketing season “unilaterally” set for April 7 by the Tobacco Industry...
ZIMBABWE might be well on its way to reclaim its status as one of the top producers of tobacco in the world in the 2020/2021 cropping season. As at 25 November, about 28 292 hectares had been planted compared to 27 181 ha in the previous season. Last year, output declined 27 percent to 183 million...
