Tobacco production in Africa

Large-scale commercial (LSC) farmers dominate tobacco production. LSC farmers are characterized by their use of modern machinery, overhead and drip-line irrigation, and permanent wage labour. Holdings in the LSC sector can be very large and it has been estimated that fewer than 5 000 farmers occupy 21 percent of Zimbabwe’s total land area of 8,2 million hectares, including 3,7 million hectares in Natural Region II.

Less than 20 percent of all LSC farms are smaller than 200 ha and half are greater than 1 000 ha, although only a relatively small area may be suitable for cropping, and most LSC farmers cultivate between 100 and 500 ha per year. The majority of LSC farms are under freehold ownership by individuals, limited liability companies or large corporations. Although there are fewer than 2 000 commercial tobacco growers, these producers account for 87 percent of area planted and 95 percent of the total crop, equal to some 190 000 to 230 000 tonnes of flue-cured tobacco annually. Furthermore, most commercial farmers have diverse sources of income. Although tobacco is still the backbone of commercial agriculture, other important LSC crops include wheat, soybean, maize, groundnut and livestock, which (in tobacco areas) are typically grown in rotation with tobacco. Most commercial tobacco farmers practice a five-year rotation, and these other crops are an important part of the overall land use system and help provide a steady cash flow. More recently, many commercial growers have also introduced other high-value crops, including export roses, supermarket vegetables, paprika and coffee as part of their farm system, specifically to lessen their dependence on tobacco. More than 80 percent of all horticultural exports, for example, are grown on tobacco farms and were first developed using tobacco revenue.