A digital copy of the Business News 24 (24 July edition). Zimbabwe's premier business news free sheet published by the Zimpapers Newspapers Group (1980) Limited and available every week day from 1530hrs to give a summary of the day's business news.

1. News Update as @ 1530 hours, Thursday 24 2014
Feedback: bh24admin@zimpapers.co.zwEmail: bh24feedback@zimpapers.co.zw
By Tawanda Musarurwa
Additional revenue and expenditure
measures taken by the Government
willcontributeanadditional$933million
to the fiscus, Finance Minister Patrick
Chinamasa has said.
Over the past few years the Zimba-
bwean Government has been suffering
from constrained space due to under-
performing revenue and expenditure
overruns, but the Government is in the
processofcreatingfiscalspacebyboost-
ing domestic revenue mobilisation and
re-prioritisation of expenditures. In a
letter of intent to the International Mon-
etary Fund, Minister Chinamasa said
the additional revenue and expenditure
measures will contribute $933 million to
the fiscus, which is approximately 6,9
percentofcurrentGrossDomesticProd-
uct (GDP) levels. "Given the downward
revision to the economic outlook for
2014, there are significant risks to the
revenue side of the budget. In addition,
our financing space is quite constrained,
as we are facing large maturities on
domestic T-bills and loans in 2014.
"To address these challenges, the Min-
ister of Finance and Economic Develop-
ment presented a package of additional
revenue and expenditure measures to
Cabinet in early-June 2014. "The pack-
age amounts to about $933 million (6,9
percent of GDP) and places a heavier
weight on revenue measures, including
$554 million (4,1 percent of GDP) from
selective increases in customs duties,
targeted tax compliance operations,
non-tax revenues mobilised largely by
redirecting surplus resources in several
extra-budgetary funds, and from meas-
ures to address custom revenue leak-
ages," he said.
"Capital and recurrent expenditure
reduction measures will amount to US$
379 million (2,8 percent of GDP). It is
important to note that we have ring-
fenced high-value and high-impact
social spending. As a result, we are
currently targeting for total revenue of
$ 4,014 million (29,8 percent of GDP),
totalcashexpenditureof$4,092million
(30,4 percent of GDP), and an overall
cash deficit of $78 million (0,6 percent
of GDP) in 2014." Fiscal space is basi-
cally the difference between the current
level of public debt and the level of debt
that is sustainable and manageable,
and allows a government to provide
resources for a desired purpose without
putting at risk the sustainability of its
financial position or the stability of the
economy.
The additional measures that the Gov-
ernment is implementing on the whole
consist of improving revenue perfor-
mance and re-allocating expenditure.
However, the Government could also
grow its fiscal space by enhancing its
potentialfordonorsupport,butifindica-
tions by the Minister are anything to go
by, this may be long in coming.
"(G)iven the very tight resource con-
straints in the 2014 Budget, it would be
very difficult for us to continue reducing
the total stock of arrears of domestic
payment in 2014. We plan to eliminate
the total stock of end-2014 domestic
arrearsbyend-2016,"hetoldtheIMF •
New revenue and expenditure package to add $933 million
Minister Chinamasa

2. BH24

3. 3 NEWS
BH24 Reporter
Zimbabwe-focused multi-commodity
resource development company, Afri-
can Consolidated Resources (ACR) has
said it has reached an agreement with
Falcon Gold to extend the date for the
payment of the outstanding balance
for the sale of the latter's Dalny Mine
to August 15.
The payment date had been initially
set for July 30. In a recent statement,
AIM-listed ACR said the extension had
been necessitated by the two-week
adjournment of a meeting of the Zim-
babwe Stock Exchange Listing Com-
mittee, and the subsequent postpone-
ment of Falgold’s extraordinary general
meeting.
"Further to the announcement dated
30 June 2014, ACR, the AIM-listed
resources and development company,
announces that Falcon Gold Zimbabwe
Limited has informed the Company
that, following an adjournment by two
weeks of a meeting of the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange Listing Committee,
the expected date of the Extraordinary
General Meeting of Falgold in order to
approve the proposed sale of the Dalny
Mine and associated infrastructure is
now 13 August 2014, with the results
expected to be published on 15 August
2014.
"In order to accommodate the new
date of the Falgold EGM, Falgold has
requested and ACR has agreed to
extend the date for payment of the
outstanding consideration (being a
net cost of $7,5 million) from 30 July
2014 to 15 August 2014," said ACR.
ACR and Falgold last month signed a
conditionalagreementwhichwouldsee
ACR acquire the Dalny mine for $8,5
million.ACR also said it is continuing
with "active discussions" with regards
to accessing funding for its targeted
key projects.
"The Company remains in active dis-
cussions concerning the funding of
approximately US$18 million, the
funding necessary to acquire the Dalny
Mine and to bring the Company's Pick-
stone Peerless Gold Project in Zimba-
bwe to fast tracked production, and
which is anticipated to be by way of a
mix of debt and equity," it said. •
ACR, Falgold agree to extend Dalny mine payment date

4. AdM-DI156506-
BH24

5. By Lynn Murahwa
Government has urged players in the
country's tourism sector to develop
products that are specifically targeted
for the domestic market.
Speaking when she officially launched
the National Tourism Policy this morn-
ing, Vice President Joice Mujuru said
the tourism industry in Zimbabwe will
grow to the extent that players in the
industry develop new products suited
to the domestic market.
”To unlock the potential in domestic
tourism, it is necessary for players in
the sector to have a mindset change.
The private sector should, therefore,
develop a broad range of tourism
products to suit the domestic market,”
she said. Vice President Mujuru said
the new policy will lead the nation to
sustainable development through the
tourism sector.
"This is a significant development
given that the tourism sector has been
identified as one of the major drivers
of economic growth under the cluster
based Zim Asset. I have no doubt that
this National Tourism Policy will be a
compass to guide us to lay a solid foun-
dation for the sustainable development
of tourism in Zimbabwe," she said.
She added that Government continues
to look for ways to improve the econ-
omy and social equity through natural
resources. "Government continues to
explore ways of promoting sustainable
development and social equity through
the wise exploitation of our natural
resources. To this extent, emphasis will
be made on capacitating and empow-
ering communities to provide goods
and services at various levels in the
tourism supply chain," she said.
She said all efforts made towards
developing the tourism sector offer
great opportunities for growth as the
search for new potential tourism areas
continues. “All these can provide us
with vast opportunities for sustaina-
ble and viable tourism growth, if well
branded and effectively marketed.
The challenge we face is to ensure
future growth. In this respect we need
to identify new areas that offer great
potential for tourism development,”
she said.
Minister of Tourism and Hospitality
Industry Walter Mzembi said there was
a need to for the country to adopt an
"open skies and open borders" pol-
icy, which are also addressed by the
National Tourism Policy. “We need to
focus on destination accessibility and
a recovery strategy. We need an open
skies and open borders policy,” he said.
•
5 NEWS
Tourism players urged to develop domestic tourism products
BH24 Reporter
The Minister of Transport and Infra-
structural Development Obert Mpofu
has appointed a substantive board for
Air Zimbabwe.
The eight member board is chaired by
Abdulman Harid who is a former Com-
missioner of Taxes and the first black
Comptroller and Auditor-General of
Zimbabwe. The other board members
are Gift Noko, Rudo Faranisi, Luck-
son Muzondo, Patience Zenda, Edwin
Zvandasara, Austin Simbai Mpinyuri,
and Dr Tadiwanashe Mukudzeyi
Mangwengwende.
A number of the board members have
survived from the interim board that
was appointed in February this year.
Speaking during the appointment,
Minister Mpofu tasked the new board
with turning around the fortunes of
the national airliner.
"Now that you are the substantive
board your priority is on the following
matters: Crafting and implementing
a turnaround strategy for Air Zim-
babwe including aircraft leasing/pro-
curement, human resources issues
and debt management; expansion of
both domestic and regional routes and
increasing frequencies on the most
profitable route," said the minister.
Healsourgedtheboardtoinstillahigh
standard of corporate governance and
to ensure viability of the airline. •
Mpofu appoints substantial Air Zimbabwe board

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7. 7 NEWS
By Sifelani Tsiko
Smallholder farmers from six rural
districts in the country will on Friday
receive awards for demonstrating out-
standing achievement in conserving
local crop breeds and varieties critical
for the survival of the country’s indige-
nous food crop resources.
Farmers who will be honoured as the
best stewards of agricultural biodi-
versity are from Tsholotsho, Chiredzi,
Goromonzi, Murehwa, Mutoko and
Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe (UMP).
Community Technology Development
Organisation (CTDO) director, Andrew
Mushita yesterday said the Agricultural
Biodiversity Stewardship Award cer-
emony which will be held at Chibika
Community Seed Bank in UMP district
seeks to encourage farmers to develop
a greater understanding of crop diver-
sity and the role it plays in improving
their livelihoods particularly now when
the country is facing climate change
related challenges.
“We want to honour the real champi-
ons and stewards of crop diversity,” he
said. “The awards aim to record and
celebrate the cultural traditions asso-
ciated with indigenous seed varieties
that have sustained human life here
for ages.” The awards, he said, will help
rekindle interest in traditional foods
strengthening the economic rationale
for promoting crop diversity especially
those that bring food security and con-
servation benefits.
“Theroleofsmallholderfarmersinseed
saving is a crucial part of their learning
and contributes to the preservation of
indigenous knowledge that supports
local foods reliant on traditional breeds
and varieties that bring clear and wider
food security and environmental bene-
fits,” Mushita said.
“The awards recognise the hard work
and efforts farmers are making to pre-
servelocalcropvarieties.”CTDO,alocal
NGO, is implementing a Knowledge
Management Programme on Agricul-
tural Biodiversity Conservation project
in selected districts of Zimbabwe.
The project aims to scale-up and
strengthen practices that build on the
conservation and sustainable use of
agricultural-biodiversity for improved
livelihoods and resilient food systems
especially under the changing climatic
conditions that are being experienced
in Zimbabwe.
Agricultural experts say the world’s
agro-biodiversity is disappearing at an
alarming rate. For several major crops,
up to 80–90 percent losses in vari-
ety over the past century have been
reported.
Zimbabwe has lost a number of local
crop varieties due to neglect, erosion of
local indigenous knowledge systems,
promotion of improved varieties, lack
of incentives for locally adapted crops
and recognition of the keepers of crop
diversity among other factors.
Public health experts and agricultural-
ist bemoan the erosion of indigenous
vegetables such as tsunga, nyevhe,
mutsine, derere rebupwe, regusha,
rename, renyunje and indigenous crop
varieties such as sorghum, pearl and
finger millets, cowpeas, bambara nuts
and other neglected and under-uti-
lized crop species (NUS) such as taro
and madhumbe which they argue are
important in improving the nutrition of
people particularly now when there is
a rise in non-communicable diseases
such as cancer, diabetes and others. •
Smallholder farmers to receive awards

8. BH24

9. By Stanford Chiwanga
The Minister of Industry and Com-
merce Mike Bimha believes that
ZimAsset will only be a success story if
there are workers to drive it.
Addressing business executives at
the National Aids Council (NAC) Busi-
ness Conference in Bulawayo, Minister
Bimhasaidhealthyworkersareneeded
for the economy to be turned around.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Zimbabwe
can only achieve economic prosperity
with a healthy workforce. The recently
developed and launched ZimAsset can
only succeed to set our country on a
recovery path if there are workers to
drive it.
“ZimAsset clearly identifies HIV and
Aids as one of its priority areas that
require attention. I am therefore
making an appeal to employees and
employersaswellasrelatedstakehold-
ers to prioritise strategies to address
HIV at the workplace as a key require-
ment for achieving ZimAsset,” he said.
Minister Bimha said wining the fight
against HIV and Aids was a must for
ZimAsset to succeed. “It is impera-
tive that we institutionalise through
policies, how we conduct the various
programmes on HIV and Aids at our
workplaces.Iunderstandthattechnical
guidance on developing the required
policies is available from NAC and
several of its implementing partners
including institutions funded by the
Global Fund.
“I appeal to the mining and related
sectors to get organised through asso-
ciations or related groupings for better
coordination. Better coordination is
a prerequisite for many funders and
technical support offering agencies.
Come together and work in harmony
with the rest of the sectors in the
national response to HIV and Aids,” he
said. The Minister also urged the busi-
ness sector to strive to have a health
workforce.
He said: “I want to urge you as the
mining sector and related sectors to be
creative in your leadership towards a
healthy workforce for maximum profit-
ability. The business sector has unique
skills to respond in a variety of ways
and programmes integrating HIV and
AIDS into a holistic wellness approach.
The commitment of top level man-
agement and company shareholders
is essential and early action will reap
tremendous savings in both economic
and human terms.”
Minister Bimha said the Ministry of
Industry and Commerce was prepared
to assist companies and mines in the
fight against HIV and AIDS.
“As a ministry we will be ready to work
with you and assist wherever we can,
fully mindful to the fact that this will
have a positive effect on productivity in
the mining and related sectors. I must
express the gratitude of my ministry to
NAC for organising this meeting and
their commitment to the vision of this
country and the focus of this year’s
Mine Entra on innovation, beneficiation
and growth,” he said.
9 NEWS
Only workers can drive ZimAsset – Bimha
Minister Bimha

10. BH24

11. The equities maintained a downward
trend, dipping 0.36 percent as trading
on the bourse remains depressed.
Industrial counters that traded in the
red out-numbered gainers seven to
three as the Industrials index shed a
further 0.66 points to close at 184.95
points. Radar led the top losers, los-
ing a hefty 5.98 cents to close at 2.02
cents, Hippo eased 5 cents to trade at
65 cents and TA Holdings slipped 1.51
cents to 15 cents.
Telecoms giant Econet and Meikles
both traded a cent lower to close at
73 cents and 17 cents respectively.
The three counters that traded in the
positive territory include Star Africa,
which was up 0.20 cents to trade at
1.35 cents, ZHL which gained 0.10
cents to settle at 0.95 cents and ZPI
which increased by 0.04 cents to
close at 0.89 cents.
The mining index extended by 1.89
points (or 3.19 percent) to close at
61.13 points following gains in Bind-
ura, which rose 0.21 cents to 5.01
cents. Falgold, Hwange and Riozim
were unchanged at previous trading
levels.
The total value of trades was $463K,
buoyed by volume in Afdis, Delta and
Bindura. ― BH24 Reporter •
11 ZSE REVIEW
Local bourse extends losses

12. BH24

13. Zimbabwe has been making rather
slow progress in implementing pol-
icy reforms under the International
Monetary Fund's Staff-Monitored Pro-
gramme (SMP).
It could be that the respective pro-
cesses may have been slowed by a
lengthy electoral process, but that
should particularly apply to the quan-
titative targets, rather than the struc-
tural benchmarks.
In a letter of intent addressed to the
IMF, Finance Minister Patrick Chi-
namasa highlighted that the coun-
try had made attained three of the
five structural benchmarks for the
first review and only one of the five
structural benchmarks for the second
review.
These include: submission of the new
Income Tax Bill to Parliament in May
2013; and the time-bound action plan
by the Civil Service Commission (for-
merly the Public Service Commission)
on measures to modernise human
resource and payroll systems was
submitted to the Ministry of Finance
and Economic Development (MoFED)
in December 2013. Additionally, the
new framework for contingency plan-
ning and systemic risk management
was submitted to and approved by the
RBZ Board in October 2013; and the
RBZ Debt Assumption Bill (formerly
the RBZ Debt Relief Bill) was approved
by Cabinet in November 2013 and
submitted to Parliament on April 10,
2014.
Both the Zimbabwean Government
and the IMF have since acknowledged
that the acknowledged structural
benchmarks are critical in improv-
ing the country's fiscal transparency
and accountability, enhancing public
financial management, and increasing
financial stability.
But the realisation that one out of five
structural benchmarks met for the
second review is particularly worri-
some because these are economic
policy adjustments that require will-
power more than anything else.
Policy adjustments in the right areas
will go a long way in improving overall
economic performance. For example,
experts believe that policies that that
reduce corruption and improve gov-
ernance create fiscal space, hence
the need to review the Banking Act
and the Mines and Minerals Act. Also,
Government policies that encour-
age improvements in the efficiency
through which the private sector allo-
cates its resources have the poten-
tial to facilitate higher and effective
spending in both sectors.
It's not even an issue of instituting a
policy re-think. The Government is
fully aware of what needs to be done
and in what areas. What is simply
required is expediency in the imple-
mentation of what the Government
has already outlined in pronounce-
ments such as the last National
Budget and ZimAsset, for example.
Since the beginning of the year Zim-
babwe has been struggling to access
funding for infrastructure projects
listed under ZimAsset.
But it should be a relatively easier task
to advance the reform agenda that
is guided by the same development
plan. The Government has on numer-
ous occasions expressed its commit-
ment to implementing the policies and
reforms in the SMP. Actual implemen-
tation is key. •
13 BH24 COMMENT
Swift implementation of policy reforms crucial

14. BH24

15. Vodacom Group Ltd, the wireless
operator with the most subscribers in
South Africa, said first-quarter revenue
increased 4.3 percent as customers
used more data outside its domestic
market.
Sales rose to 18.3 billion rand ($1.7 bil-
lion) in the three months through June,
theJohannesburg-basedcompanysaid
in a statement today. Data revenue
soared 23 percent to 3.6 billion rand
as active customers for the service
increased 37 percent to 25.3 million.
“Data and the international businesses
have once again been the largest con-
tributors to growth, and the entire
business is seeing the benefit of our
sustained investment program,” Chief
Executive Officer Shameel Joosub said
in the statement.
Vodacom, which is 65 percent owned
byVodafoneGroupPlc,isexpandingits
Internetanddataserviceswhileadding
small-to-medium sized business cus-
tomers to offset declining voice sales
from its home market, which is being
squeezed by cuts in the rates it can
charge for ending calls on its network.
Vodacomsharesincreased1percentto
127.35 rand as of 10:03 a.m. in Johan-
nesburg. The stock has declined 4.3
percent this year, compared with a 2.6
percent gain for its biggest competitor,
MTN Group Ltd.
South Africa sales advanced 2 percent
to 14.8 billion rand in the quarter even
as a cut to mobile termination rates
reduced incoming voice revenue by 44
percent. Vodacom is seeking approval
from the country’s communications
regulator to acquire Internet provider
NeotelPtyLtd.asitattemptstoexpand
its fiber network.
International mobile data revenue
increased 51 percent to 636 million
rand as the company added customers
in Tanzania, Mozambique, the Demo-
cratic Republic of Congo and Lesotho.
The phone company’s active custom-
ers increased 16 percent to 59.6 mil-
lion. ― Bloomberg •
15 REGIONAL News
Vodacom first-quarter sales rise on Sub-Saharan Africa data

16. BH24

17. 17 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
14 July 2014
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 421 MW
Kariba 750 MW
Harare 45 MW
Munyati 29 MW
Bulawayo 0 MW
Imports 0 MW
Total 1245 MW
23 -25 July - Mine Entra, Place: Zimbabwe Inter-
national Exhibition Centre, Bulawayo
24 July - OK Zimbabwe Thirteenth Annual Gen-
eral Meeting Place: OKMart Functions Room,
First Floor, OKMart, 30 Chiremba Road, Hillside, Time:
15:00 hours.
1 August - Sixteenth Annual General Meeting
of the members of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe
Limited, Place: Econet Park, 2 Old Mutare Road,
Msasa, Harare, Time; 10.00am
THE BH24 DIARY

18. BH24

19. 19 zse
ZSE
Movers CHANGE Today Price USc SHAKERS Change TODAY Price USc
Star Africa 17.39% 1.35 Radar -74.75% 2.02
Zimre 11.76% 0.95 RTG -15.38% 1.10
ZPI 4.70% 0.89 TA -9.14% 15.00
BNC 4.37% 5.01 Hippo -7.14% 65.00
Meikles -5.55% 17.00
Econet -1.35% 73.00
Delta -0.01% 125.00
Indices
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 185.61 184.95 -0.66 points -0.36%
Mining 59.24 61.13 +1.89 points +3.19%
Stocks Exchange
Previous

20. BH24

21. 21 AFRICA StockS
Botswana 8,664.65 -11.96 -0.14% 12July
Cote dIvoire 246.37 +2.18 +0.89% 07Mar
Egypt 7,949.60 -75.68 -0.94% 06Mar
Ghana 2,354.16 -7.26 -0.31% 18June
Kenya 4,896.77 -13.83 -0.28% 21July
Malawi 12,662.47 +0.00 +0.00% 07Mar
Mauritius 2,074.51 -3.51 -0.17% 07Mar
Morocco 9,544.10 +21.01 +0.22% 07Mar
Nigeria 42,784.30 -107.52 -0.25% 21July
Rwanda 131.27 +0.00 +0.00% 24Oct
Tanzania 2,018.97 +25.40 +1.27% 07Mar
Tunisia 4,624.39 -39.32 -0.84% 07Mar
Uganda 1,503.90 +0.81 +0.05% 10Sep
Zambia 4,242.74 +14.95 +0.35% 10April
Zimbabwe 185.72 -0.21 -0.11% 21July
African stock round up Commodity Prices
Name Price
Crude Oil 1,300.91 -0.21%
Spot Gold USD/oz 1,292.63 -0.26%
Spot Silver USD/oz 19.38 -0.46%
Spot Platinum USD/oz 1,421.25 -0.33%
Spot Palladium USD/oz 798.50 -0.64%
LME Copper USD/t 6,770 -0.18%
LME Aluminium USD/t 1,780 -1.17%
LME Nickel USD/t 18,230 -1.73%
LME Lead USD/t 2,095 -1.41%
Quote of the day — "There is
only one way to succeed
in anything, and that is to
give it everything." -
Vince Lombardi
Globalshareholder.com

22. Facebook's fast-growing mobile adver-
tising business helped drive a 61 per
cent increase in revenue during the
second quarter, beating Wall Street's
financial targets and sending shares to
a record-high in after-hours trading on
Wednesday.
The world's No.1 social network said
on Wednesday that it saw increased
interest from both advertisers and from
users during the second quarter, while
thecompany'sprofitmarginsexpanded.
Facebook now counts 1.5 million adver-
tising customers and the company's ad
business saw strong growth across all
of its geographic regions, Chief Operat-
ing Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in an
interview.
"We're seeing our existing advertisers
spend more and we're seeing new peo-
ple come on to the platform," Sandberg
said. Advertisement
Investors bid up shares of Facebook
roughly5percentto$US75.13inafter-
hours trading on Wednesday, giving the
internetcompanyaroughly$US190bil-
lionvaluation,puttingitonparwithIBM.
"It might be more expensive from a
market cap perspective, but I don't
think anyone was expecting this level
of profitability," JMP Securities analyst
Ronald Josey said.
Facebook's operating margin expanded
to 48 per cent of revenue in the second
quarter,upfrom31percentintheyear-
ago period. Overall revenue of $US2.91
billion beat the average expectation of
$US2.81 billion, according to analysts
polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Facebook executives stressed on a con-
ference call that the company planned
to invest aggressively in new projects,
such as the Oculus virtual reality head-
set business that Facebook recently
acquired for $US2 billion.
And executives reiterated past com-
mentsthatnascentadvertisingeffortsin
video and in the Instagram photo-shar-
ing app would not contribute signifi-
cantly to the top line in the near term.
Nor will Facebook take the "cheap and
easy" route of putting ads or payment
capabilities within its Messenger app,
Facebook chief executive Mark Zucker-
berg said on a conference call with ana-
lysts. JMP's Josey said that the go-slow
approach was not a concern for inves-
tors."There'sreallynorushtoaddthem
because their core business is doing so
well," he said.
Facebook said it now counted 1.32 bil-
lion monthly users, with roughly 63 per
cent accessing the service every day.
Mobile advertising revenue grew 151
per cent year-over-year, accounting for
roughly 62 per cent of Facebook's over-
all ad revenue.
Facebook's newsfeed ads, which inject
paid marketing messages straight into
a user's stream of news and content,
haveignitedFacebook'srevenuegrowth
and bolstered its stock price during the
past year.
Facebook posted $US791 million in net
income, compared with $US333 million
inthesecondquarterof2013.Excluding
certain items, Facebook said it earned
US42 cents a share in the second quar-
ter, surpassing expectations for US32
cents a share. ― Reuters •
22 INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Facebook beats Wall Street targets off mobile ad growth

23. By Ray Mwareya
This year alone Zimbabwe has earned
a record $777 million dollars from
tobacco sales mainly to China.
Some 20,000 new tobacco growers
have entered the market in the last
year - raising production to 250 million
kg.
Tobacco has been credited with reviv-
ing the rural economy in a de-industri-
alising country 80 percent unemploy-
ment. And according to the country's
lobby The Tobacco Industry Marketing
Board, 32 percent of growers this year
in Zimbabwe are women.
Flue-cured tobacco (also called Virginia
tobacco) is Zimbabwe's most lucrative
cash crop dwarfing maize, cotton or
flowers. Tobacco sales provide 26 per-
cent of the country's foreign currency
earnings. But tobacco has been an
outright doom for the country's natural
woodlands.
Zimbabwe along with Tanzania and
Malawi produce 75 percent of all
tobacco in Africa. Their high quality
tobacco attracts cash rich buyers from
China, Dubai, Belgium, Japan and
South Africa. And Zimbabwe is now
the third greatest producer in the world
after Brazil and the USA.
A deforestation crisis
This story of economic progress is
however is a catastrophic environmen-
tal disaster for the African country - 15
percent of its natural forest has been
burnt down as farmers free more land
toplanttobacco.Oncurrenttrends,the
country will be a desert in just 35 years
from now.
For a grim start, small scale farmers
who make up 80 percent of the coun-
try's 87 000 tobacco growers are clear-
ing 5,3 million trees as they expand
tobacco plots and triple their profits.
"The national rate of deforestation
currently stands at more than 300
000 hectares per annum of which 15
percent is attributable to tobacco pro-
duction activities", moans Zimbabwe's
watchdog The Forest Commission
Agency.
According to the agency, this horror
means that Zimbabwe is losing wood-
lands which are three times bigger
than its sprawling capital city, Harare,
every year.
Flue-cured tobacco is highly energy-in-
tensive, requiring intense heat to dry
out moisture from the crop's leaves.
23 Analysis
Tobacco - Zimbabwe's forests are going up in smoke

24. 24 Analysis
Curingmeanscirculatinghotairaround
the crop for seven days.
This means direct disaster for natural
forests as farmers lay their hands on
previously protected prime forests.
Water bodies are also infected and
dried by pesticides as farmers protect
their crop from diseases.
Zimbabwe's annual rate of deforest-
ation has risen sharply from the 1,5
percent recorded in 1997, according
to the United Nations Development
Programme - and now stands over 20
percent higher. In the same period the
number of tobacco farmers increased
from 1 400 to 87 000.
The United Nations Environmental
Protection Agency claims that "fuel
wood scarcity, land degradation and
deforestation in developing countries
can be linked to tobacco farming."
Coal or wood?
The heat could be provided by coal, but
so long as wood is available cheaply, or
even free, for the trouble of cutting it
down, it dominates the country's pro-
duction.
Small scale farmers who seized
swathes of plots from displaced white
Zimbabwe farmers in 2000 do not
have sufficient money and will to buy
coal and dry their tobacco. Coal in Zim-
babwe costs a prohibitive $250 per
tonne.
Moreover coal fired drying barns need
electricity to circulate the heat - and
Zimbabwe is chronically short of power.
So firewood is the easy, but hazardous,
alternative to coal.
Each small scale tobacco farmer
in Zimbabwe owns 3,2 hectares of
cropped land according to The African
Consultancy Intelligence. A smallholder
typically grows 1 400 kg of tobacco per
hectare, which needs seven tonnes of
firewood to cure.
To prepare tobacco for sale nearby
forests are cleared and the wood
stockpiled to heat and dry the crop.
For example, in 2011 around 635
000 tonnes of firewood were used to
cure 127 million kilograms of tobacco.
According to the United Nations Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, this
translates to 46 000 hectares of lost
forest.
Flash floods and erosion
In Mashonaland province, commonly
referred to as the 'Tobacco Belt',
deforestation has laid land bare and
arid, bringing flash floods, erosion and
mass displacement of wildlife.
Here farmers are draining wetlands
anddryingshallowwellsastheyextend
their fields. In just two years time the
province will have no forest left, fears
the Consultancy African Intelligence.
FuelledbyChinawhichbought328mil-
lion kilograms of tobacco in 2014, the
price of tobacco in Zimbabwe has shot
up as high as $6 per kilogram, though
prices have since fallen back.
To worsen matters, Zimbabwe farm-
ers prefer tobacco to food crops like
bananas, wheat or maize, which has
to be sold to the government buying
agency at a low fixed price. The agency
can also leave farmers waiting for two
years for payment.
This leaves the country on the edges of
acute hunger as self-sufficiency in food
is undermined.
Cut less, grow more!
Small scale farmers are not disturbed
by tobacco's severe impact on the
environment. The judicial fine for
destroying forests in Zimbabwe is too
low. Offenders only have to pay $300
no matter how large a forest burnt
down. To be contunued tomorrow