Business News
Zimbabwean tobacco crop doubles after years in the doldrums
Sep 3, 2010, 18:45 GMT
Harare - Zimbabwe's tobacco crop doubled in the last season to earn the country's stricken economy 347 million dollars, making a dramatic comeback after a decade of decline, industry officials said Friday.
The production of the crop is the only commodity in Zimbabwean agriculture to have grown since President Robert Mugabe launched a land-grab of white-owned farms in 2000 that set off the crash of one of Africa's most prosperous economy.
The last sales of the tobacco auction season ended Thursday with a total of 119 million kilograms sold, up from 59 million last year, said Andy Ferreira, the past president of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association, the main growers' body.
Zimbabwe's tobacco production reached a peak of 236 million kilograms in 2000, but fell to 45 million kilograms following the violent takeover of white-owned farms, which were eventually occupied mostly by Mugabe's top aides, generals, judges, police commissioners and secret police.
Agronomists say all but a handful of those farms have since reverted to natural bush. About 300 white farmers are left of the original 4,500, but they are all large-scale tobacco producers and make a major contribution to the national output.
COMMENT
blog comments powered by DisqusLatest Headlines in Business
- 1. US unemployment drops further, but figures disappoint
- 2. Japan stocks down as euro debt outweighs positive US data
- 3. Iraq resumes oil flow after pipeline blast in Turkey
- 4. Spanish bond auction lifts eurozone worries, sinks Japan stocks
- 5. ECB holds rates, rules out early exit from emergency measures
Older Talkback
