By Livingstone Marufu
Zimbabwe's
largest foreign currency earner is under threat after main
international buyers resolved not to accept tobacco cured using coal
citing environmental concerns.
Recently, the
Global Tobacco Cigarette Companies produced guidelines on the
sustainable manner tobacco should be produced, which prohibits them to
buy the commodity cured using coal due to unsustainable environmental
impact of the fossil fuel.
Zimbabwean farmers
-- particularly small scale -- use wood to cure tobacco. But as a result
of wood poaching and massive deforestation in most farming communities,
there had been a campaign to encourage farmers to use coal as an
alternative source of energy. More than 100 000 farmers registered to
grow the crop this season from about 80 000 last season.
The Sustainable
Tobacco Programme state that from 2020, Global Cigarette companies will
not buy tobacco produced in an unsustainable manner, including that
cured using coal. Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board public relations
manager Isheunesu Moyo, told The Herald Business in an interview that
the regulatory board had since intensified the reforestation programme
through developing woodlots of fast growing trees.
"Confronted with
this situation, it is imperative for the tobacco industry in Zimbabwe to
adopt aggressive afforestation programmes in order to remain
competitive and relevant to the Global Cigarette Industry," said Mr
Moyo. "TIMB has mobilised $2 million from its own resources for planting
of trees for curing tobacco. From this resource envelope the industry
is targeting about 2 000 hectares."
Zimbabwe has since
introduced an afforestation levy with aimed at funding energy woodlots
and more that $3 million has been collected since 2015. However, TIMB
said it has not utilised the funds because it has not obtained an
approval from the Parliament.
"We haven't started
utilising the afforestation fund as we await administrative processes
so that we can scale up our activities and plant at least 20 000
hectares of woodlots per year for the next five years. This will be
enough to cure an average 100 000 hectares of tobacco, which we produce
per year and that will enable us to meet the requirements of the Global
Tobacco Cigarette Companies," added Mr Moyo
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