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Elita Chikwati in Burma Valley
Production of high value tobacco brand, the cigar wrapper, is paying dividends for smallholder farmers in Burma Valley, whose livelihoods have improved.

Cigar wrapper tobacco was introduced three years ago by a German firm, Von Eicken, which has already produced cigarettes using 100 percent tobacco from Burma Valley.

The crop is grown by small holder farmers mostly women and exported to the Dominican Republic.

Zimbabwe becomes the third country after Kenya and Cameroon to grow the high value brand.

The farmers said their livelihoods had improved following the introduction of the tobacco variety although they were still to produce the required quality.

The growers said they were not charged floor charges, Government levy, and weighing and auctioning charges.

They are, however, entitled to the 12,5 percent foreign currency incentive. Since the market is decentralised, farmers do not worry over high transport costs.

Manyera Village farmer, Mr Burukai Taonameso, said he was happy with the prices being offered by buyers.

“I used to grow virginia tobacco, but I never used to get high prices that I am getting now. My crop was bought at $ 6,50/per kilogramme which is a reasonable price. We can recoup our costs and remain with a profit.

“We are able to feed, clothe our children and send them to school without hassles,” he said.

Mr Taonameso said he was working hard to improve the quality of the wrapper to get high prices on the market.

“We are still learning and I am confident that very soon we get higher prices for our crop,” he said.

Another farmer from the same area, Ms Nancy Chiundo, said the crop was easier to grow as it was air cured.

She said unlike virginia tobacco, which required a lot of firewood for curing the cigar wrapper was air cured and this meant less work for her.

“I used to face challenges in securing firewood to cure my flue cured tobacco, but with the new variety there is no need firewood.

“We are given adequate inputs timely and are also assured of a market close to us.

“There is no need for high transport costs as the market is decentralised,” she said.

Mrs Chiundo said she uses a cart to ferry her tobacco to Mapeto Farm, where the auction floor is located.

Another farmer Mr Lindsay Guilds, who also assists fellow farmers with training said the quality of the cigar wrapper tobacco being produced continues to improve.

He said this season’s crop had also improved and farmers were happy with the prices.

“This is the second sale this season and the quality of the crop is showing improvements.

“The highest price has been $6,50 per kilogramme with the lowest price pegged at $0,50/per kg.

“During the first season, the crop was affected by drought, last season we had high rainfall, which also compromised the quality.

“What is important is for farmers to pay attention to good management skills,” he said.

Von Eicken representative Mr Andy Edmundson said the objective was to ensure farmers produce a leaf that is useful for cigar wrapping.

“The most important thing is for farmers to achieve high quality wrapper and not increased volumes. At the moment we are receiving wrapper and filler and we hope farmers continue to work on the quality.

Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board corporate communications manager, Mr Isheunesu Moyo, said cigar wrapper was formerly introduced to empower women, but after realising the benefits, some men had also joined the industry.

“This season we have 39 farmers growing cigar wrapper and 28 of them are female. Last season we had 32 farmers.

“We encourage the farmers to continue adhering to good agronomic practices and attending training programmes to improve on the quality of the leaf.

“The Zimbabwean cigar wrapper is on high demand on the international market and it is important that farmers produce a crop that meets the global expectations.

“Our aim is to ensure people’s livelihoods improve while the country also gets the much needed foreign currency,” he said.

Burma Valley farmers produced 10 154kg of cigar wrapper between the first season and this year.