The Sunday News
Lungile Tshuma Farming Reporter
LIFE is about vision and determination. To succeed in life, one needs to be a risk taker, above all, a pioneer.
Coming from a region — Matabeleland — with little or no track record of farming tobacco and usually graced with below minimum rains, Mr Hentry Mpofu from Umguza in Matabeleland North has defied all these odds to become one of the pioneers of farming this golden leaf crop.
Much to his conviction, the initiative is a turning point for him and the rest of the farmers in Matabeleland.
For years, farmers in Matabeleland have abstained from tobacco farming mainly because the region has always been tagged as a cattle ranching zone, but with this development, the tide is slowly changing.
Mr Mpofu is one of the few farmers in Matabeleland region who are growing the crop on a commercial scale.
Some of the notable farmers are Mr Davis Mufarirano of Dunroaming Farm at Rosebank, Mrs Shandu Gumede from Umguza and Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Obert Mpofu.
“It (growing tobacco) started as an experiment with the aim of seeing how successful it can be and surely, taking risk is useful as it is now slowly taking me to better levels,” said Mr Mpofu.
“Every project needs a determined mind because to see the fruits of the project is not as easy as ABC. It has been painful to read and see people from other regions boasting about the benefits of growing tobacco yet we know for a fact that tobacco used to be grown in Matabeleland. After realising that some farmers in the region were doing well, I then decided to follow suit and experiment, but look at me now, am about to smile all the way to the bank.”
The golden leaf was once grown in the region. In 1924 the first tobacco research station was established in Hillside, Bulawayo, where much of the air-cured crop was grown in Matabeleland. From then on, tobacco was not grown in the region, until recently.
Mr Mpofu said due to rich earnings from tobacco he would soon be confidently walking hand in pocket and chin high.
He cultivated a hectare of the golden leaf. From the sales, he is expecting to realise about $3 000.
He said TIMB recommends first growers to grow a hectare and as many hectares as they can after they have “matured”.
The reason for this, Mr Mpofu said, was because the crop is very technical and first time growers cannot be able to handle the pressure needed to cultivate more hectares.
Despite the price at which the leaf has been sold since opening of floors in February which has declined 14 percent to average $3,17 per kilogramme from last year’s $3,70, he said tobacco still provided the best “economic return per hectare among all the major annual crops grown in Zimbabwe”.
Tobacco has also been a springboard for the production of other crops. Income from tobacco is used by growers to develop their farms, cattle production and also irrigation schemes.
“This slight decrease in price cannot deter me from growing tobacco,” said the soft spoken Mr Mpofu adding: “I will soon be diverting my earnings from tobacco to cattle production and I am enjoying the fruits of being a farmer. Cattle production on its own is no longer as lucrative as it used to be but tobacco farming can however improve the production. When I am not at my farm I will be in Filabusi and also as far as Nkayi and Lupane buying livestock.”
The crop is lucrative. In 2013, revenue amounting to $577 million was realised. Figures released by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) show that at least 91 300 farmers were involved in the production of the crop this season, with 90 000 hectares put under the crop. The African Institute for Agrarian Studies says farmers earned an average $6 500 each last season, a good earning to most Zimbabweans.
Statistics from TIMB show that by Monday, day 74 of auctions, 185 million kilogrammes had gone under the hammer, up from 140 million kilogrammes sold during the same period last year.
The selling season normally spans 90 days.
Tobacco is a technical crop which requires skilled labour. Unfortunately, people in the region are not well versed with tobacco farming since they are viewing it as a “foreign crop”, as a result, tobacco farmers in the region have to hire skilled labour from Mashonaland where the crop is largely grown.
“Mr Gumede as one of the pioneers in this field hired people from Karoi who helped us in cultivating the crop. These people are more like our teachers, they teach us how to be real tobacco farmers. They are skilled hence their wages and salaries are close to what civil servants are earning. With time, I do hope that my local employees will be able to gain more experience. At the moment, we are still at the learning stage but with time we will be doing all the work on our own.”
Due to the technicality of tobacco, temperatures in the barn during the curing stage have to be monitored as it can make or destroy the farmer. A wet and dry bulb thermometer is used to measure humidity and temperature of tobacco in the barn.
“As much as the crop is lucrative, we sometimes had sleepless nights controlling temperatures. Temperatures have to be monitored so as to come up with a proper grade. During the colouring stage, temperature should range from 27 to 33 degrees Celsius,” said Mr Mpofu.
“Temperatures can rise up to 70 degrees to dry the stalk. When it does not dry well, the stalk goes molt and this results in a poor grade. When all the conditions have been met, you switch off the heat and from that tobacco is taken for grading. The mandatory fuel for the barns is now coal. At the moment it is understood a tonne of coal costs $55. For a single cropping season a tonne of coal is required to fuel a hectare.”
However, he warned people not to take part in tobacco farming if they don’t have enough money to handle the expenses that are incurred in growing tobacco.
“Tobacco farming is a no go area for people who do not have money. A lot of money is needed to cultivate the crop. Everyone who wishes to cultivate tobacco must construct a barn before planting tobacco. I am into cattle production hence I use some money to venture into tobacco farming.
He said the market was in Harare where tobacco is sold through auction floors. Some farmers work with contractors who always buy their tobacco unlike auction floors where merchants only buy tobacco when they are impressed by the grade. Mr Mpofu is opting to use rail transport which he said has been advised as affordable.
Studies show that Zimbabwe’s climate is favourable to the growing of tobacco. The crop does well on sandy loam soil where most grain crops would require a lot of fertilisers.
For Bulawayo and Matabeleland region, farmers can only grow tobacco through irrigation because rainfall is not reliable like in the highlands.
This is the reason why the “golden leaf” has been concentrated in Umguza, as the area is largely under cultivation where people grow crops such tomatoes, cabbages under irrigation.
Most farmers in the area depend on Umguza River for irrigation but the river water was recently condemned by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) as unsuitable for drinking, irrigation and agricultural purposes. Growing of produce from the farming area which includes cabbages, lettuce, carrots and tomatoes has been banned as they discovered that the water contains high levels of metals and other pollutants that can cause chronic illnesses.
However, tobacco among other crops like wheat, maize and sorghum are not affected by this development.
