LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
The Tobacco Research Board (TRB) is developing alternative crops in response to threats from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to forbid the cultivation of the golden leaf, it has been learnt.
Speaking to Business Times on the sidelines of a tour of TRB, the research board CEO, Frank Magama said Zimbabwe takes seriously the WHO threats and has started venturing into alternative crops.
“We are alive to the potential ban of the golden leaf crop. We are not working on tobacco alone but we are working around tobacco and alternatives.
“We are carrying out a number of projects here at TRB which gives us a significant top line and the proceeds from various ventures will go into tobacco research itself or research into alternatives,” Magama said.
TRB has developed chia, stevia, industrial hemp, potatoes, macadamia nuts, cut flowers, saffron crocus and soya bean among other cash crops which can sustain the economy in case the proposed tobacco ban is implemented.
The country is also doing barley, cigar wrappers and shisha which have reduced nicotine levels.
“We are making sure that tobacco farmers are not going to suffer in case the tobacco is banned or when it’s no longer as profitable as it is.
“We have diversified to ensure that the tobacco grower does not suffer if the tobacco ban goes through,” he said.
More importantly, the research board is pushing for the sustainable growth of the golden leaf to meet WHO standards.
“We have moved to sustainably grow the golden leaf as we are coming up with varieties that have reduced nicotine levels, growing trees and using natural methods without using the conventional chemicals to protect the environment.
“We have also moved to use tobacco for the manufacturing of medicines, Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG), among other things to show that tobacco is not hazardous to health but a cure to diseases,” Magama said.
He said the board is also helping the setting up of the orchards where farmers can earn a living.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Anxious Masuka concurred saying there was need to transform the agriculture sector.
“The (proposed) elimination of tobacco is a real threat to our agriculture sector. Our tobacco is exported to more than 60 destinations. Only 1% or 2% is value added before export. We need to capture more value. We have come up with a bold plan, which will be radical enough to transform the (agriculture) sector,” Masuka said.
It comes at a time when tobacco is Zimbabwe’s fourth largest foreign currency earner with annual exports earnings hovering around US$1bn.
Zimbabwe is Africa’s best tobacco producer and fifth largest producer of the golden leaf globally with over 95% of total tobacco produced being flue cured. The crop is also renowned for its flavour.
To make sure the anti-tobacco lobbyists have nothing to point at, Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Shadreck Makombe said it was important to grow the crop sustainably.
“We are happy with the TRB’s efforts so far to come up with alternatives but given the fact that the tobacco growers are on the brink of reaching 300m kilogrammes, it will take time to master another crop like what farmers are doing to tobacco,” Makombe said.
Zimbabwe currently supplies most of the leading importers of tobacco including China, which is the largest importer accounting for 57% of Zimbabwe’s exports.
According to WHO, tobacco remains the only consumer product that kills up to half of those who use it as intended by manufacturers and it kills one person every four seconds, approximately eight million individuals needlessly dying every year with one million of those deaths occurring in non-smokers exposed to tobacco smoke.
WHO also links tobacco use to the four most prevalent noncommunicable diseases: cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes.
