Harare, (New Ziana)- In a move expected to reduce the pressure on Zimbabwe’s forests, tobacco contractors are giving farmers tree seedlings to enable them to establish sustainable woodlots for tobacco curing, an official has said.
Of the total rate of deforestation which currently stands at 262 000 hectares per annum, 15 to 20 percent of that rate of deforestation is attributable to tobacco growing, particularly tobacco curing in Zimbabwe.
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) said establishing woodlots at farms was part of several sustainability programmes that are being pursued to ensure that tobacco is produced ethically while minimizing the environmental impact.
The board said this is in line with the Sustainable Tobacco Program (STP), an international initiative for tobacco merchants and industry players, which provides a framework for driving industry-wide sustainability standards.
TIMB acting chief executive Emmanuel Matsvaire said beginning the upcoming 2024/25 summer cropping season, it will become mandatory for growers to establish their own woodlots to cure tobacco. “In 2023, TIMB introduced the Agricultural Labour Practices Code and a new Contractors Compliance Administrative Framework which all registered tobacco contractors signed and are mandated to follow.
“Starting this season, contractors are providing growers with tree seedlings to establish wood lots, coal or wood from sustainable woodlots for tobacco curing. This reduces the pressure on our natural forests and allows them to recover,” he said in a statement.
Since 2015, tobacco farmers are, however, paying a levy from their sales which is supposed to go towards reforestation. The levy is collected by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), and channeled to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for disbursement to the Forestry Commission.
New Ziana