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Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
FOREIGN currency receipts from tobacco since the beginning of the year are close to reaching $1 billion after 160,5 million kilogrammes of the golden leaf valued $914 million have been exported.

Latest statistics from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) indicate that as of December 8, 2016, flue-cured tobacco from Zimbabwe was being exported at an average price of $5,70 a kg.

During the same period last year, tobacco was exported at an average price of $5,63 a kg, raking in $853,1 million from 151,6 million kg.

China has maintained the top spot as the major consumer of flue-cured from Zimbabwe having imported 68,9 million kg valued at $565 million at an average price of $8,20 per kg.

During the comparable period last year, the Asian country was leading as the major importer of Zimbabwe’s flue-cured tobacco importing 61,7 million kg.

TIMB also indicated that South Africa was on second spot in terms of flue-cured tobacco consumption from Zimbabwe having so far imported 21,2 million kg compared to 13,5 million kg during the same time last year.

Other countries in the top five list were Belgium, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia that have so far imported 18,9 million kg, 8 million kg and 5,6 million kg respectively.

Sixty-three countries that include Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Jordan, Poland, Nigeria, Zambia, Lesotho, Namibia, United Kingdom, and Holland were also importing Zimbabwe’s golden leaf.

Presenting the 2017 national budget recently, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa noted that severe drought that hit the country for the second consecutive year in 2016 had put a dent on agriculture production resulting in a growth decline of -3,7 percent.

He, however, said: “In 2017, agriculture is projected to grow by 12 percent driven by higher output from major crops such as maize, cotton and tobacco, as well as milk production.”

As at December 16, about 80 173 farmers had registered to grow tobacco in the 2016/17 cropping season while 13 914 were new growers.

The area that had been put under tobacco for the 2016/17 farming season was 55 885 hectares.

Tobacco is grown in seven provinces namely: Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Manicaland, Masvingo, Midlands and Matabeleland North, which is slowly venturing into the sector with three farmers having so far registered to grow the crop this season.

Since the country started using multiple foreign currencies in 2009, the tobacco industry has been one of the fastest to recover from the economic meltdown of the past decade. Many communal farmers have been abandoning other cash crops such as cotton for tobacco due to the favorable producer prices offered.

Tobacco is one of Zimbabwe’s major agricultural exports.

@okazunga