News / National
Dominance of tobacco poses food security risk in Zimbabwe
12 Oct 2014 at 09:21hrs | Views
THE DOMINANCE of cash crops like tobacco and cotton at the commercial level could threaten national food security, recent research has revealed.
According to Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) 2014 Rural Livelihoods Assessment Report, at 88 percent, maize remains the major crop grown by households in rural areas.
Groundnuts and sorghum also compared favourably to cotton and tobacco in many rural areas, thus boosting household food security and improved nutrition levels in the countryside.
The research, however, shows that tobacco may become the major crop in the country replacing maize as more and more communal and A1 farmers each year diversify into tobacco farming.
Communal and A1 farmers are the chief food producers, but for the past few years they have been moving from maize to other crops such as tobacco, cotton and soya beans, which are more lucrative on the market.
According to Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board statistics released in August this year, more than 12 670 farmers have so far registered to grow tobacco next season for the first time ever, with the bulk of them coming from the communal and A1 sectors.
According to Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) 2014 Rural Livelihoods Assessment Report, at 88 percent, maize remains the major crop grown by households in rural areas.
Groundnuts and sorghum also compared favourably to cotton and tobacco in many rural areas, thus boosting household food security and improved nutrition levels in the countryside.
The research, however, shows that tobacco may become the major crop in the country replacing maize as more and more communal and A1 farmers each year diversify into tobacco farming.
Communal and A1 farmers are the chief food producers, but for the past few years they have been moving from maize to other crops such as tobacco, cotton and soya beans, which are more lucrative on the market.
According to Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board statistics released in August this year, more than 12 670 farmers have so far registered to grow tobacco next season for the first time ever, with the bulk of them coming from the communal and A1 sectors.
Source - SundayMail
