Story by Tendai Munengwa
THE 2025 tobacco marketing has officially opened this Wednesday morning, with a record-breaking high-quality leaf fetching US$4,95 per kilogramme as compared to US$4.92 achieved last year.
The tobacco auction floors were officially opened by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Masuka, who thanked farmers for producing a good crop and outlined progress made by the industry to achieve the anticipated US$5 billion mark by 2030.
“We are happy that you have produced a good crop and delivered quality tobacco this season. We had set a target of 300 million kilograms for this season but so far it has been reviewed downward to 280 million kilograms which is still good, for our local production and international markets,” Dr Masuka.
“I am also happy about local players who have taken heed of our value addition policy, we understand local production of cigarettes has shot up to six percent which is good.”
Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) Chairperson, Mr Patrick Devenish urged farmers to abide by the new biometric policy put in place to curb side marketing.
“We have this new system to deal with errant farmers and contractors, we want to promote transparency, fairness and sanity within the industry and anyone who breaches this new regulation will be exposed,” he said.
The first day was marked by jubilation from the farmers who delivered high-quality tobacco.
“We are happy that for the first time we achieved this value at auction sales, last year it was US$4.92 so we expect to get over 5US$ as we bring more quality crop,” Hwedza tobacco farmer, Mr Isaac Phiri said.
The opening of auction floors will be followed by the beginning of contract sales this Thursday to cater for farmers who produced tobacco under a contract farming system.
