Acting CEO Emmanuel Matsvaire (EM) talks to Maricho (MM) about this and more.
MM: The 2023/24 season has just started kindly share a state of the industry including preparedness.
EM: Preparations for the 2023/24 tobacco season are progressing well. Currently, a total of 98 217 hectares of seed bed area has been sown this is in comparison to 84 985 hectares sown during the same period last year.
TIMB has also added shisha tobacco, another cash crop, to the stable of tobaccos. The first batch of the crop was grown during the 2022/23 season. For the 2023/24 season, 4,390 grams of shisha tobacco seed covering 549 hectares has been disbursed to growers and they are working on seedbed preparations.
51,695 growers have registered for the 2023/24 season and we have new contractors coming on board for the 2023/24 season. Six new contractors have been licensed to increase the number of tobacco financiers for this season.
EM: TIMB is encouraging all growers to use energy-efficient barns to minimize the amount of wood used for curing. TIMB is also working to ensure cost of production is reduced by breaking cartels of misinvoicing and transfer pricing.
MM: Farmers have been raising issues around cartels in the tobacco production process starting from inputs up to processing. What initiatives is TIMB doing to ensure farmers are not exploited by these cartels?
EM: TIMB through the Inspectorate Department has unearthed some of the operations being undertaken by some of these cartels and have in their line of work contributed towards the enactment of policies and strategies to address such. Among the strategies is the Compliance Administrative Framework that was implemented in 2021 and the setting up of a new Compliance Administration Department. The framework is there to ensure all contracting companies fund farmers with inputs that are within the approved cost ranges as guided by the prevailing input costs as set by the Ministry of Industry & Commerce. In addition, TIMB is also looking at expanding the Inspectorate Department by establishing a tobacco anti smuggling unit to break the cartel of tobacco smuggling into Zimbabwe.
MM: Kindly comment on exports of tobacco from Zimbabwe, what is the status at the moment?
EM: As of 12 September, 124 million kgs of tobacco worth US$620 million had been exported.
MM: What strategies is the Regulator implementing to ensure that Zimbabwe tobacco gets actual value for the tobacco?
EM: Improved production methods and enhanced value addition and beneficiation are our stepping stones towards a US$5 billion industry by 2025. Currently, seven cigarette manufacturers operate in Zimbabwe, with a combined production capacity of around 5 billion cigarette sticks per annum. Efforts are being made to increase value addition and beneficiation from the current 3% to 30% by 2025.
For example, Cutrag Processors Pvt Ltd, is in the process of constructing a new manufacturing facility in Lochinvar, Harare and when it’s completed it is expected to double its processing capacity from the current 1.6 billion sticks per year. Haltrade Pvt Ltd, the manufacturer of ZARK cigarettes, is also expanding its brand portfolio by introducing tobacco one can roll on their own. We also licensed Cavendish Lloyd Tobacco to support the production of shisha and process it locally. As the regulator, we encourage more players to value add tobacco and we are here to ensure licensing and rally the needed support.