ESTIMATION OF THE IMPACT OF TOBACCO CURING
ON WOOD RESOURCES IN ZIMBABWE

ESTIMATION OF THE IMPACT OF TOBACCO CURING
ON WOOD RESOURCES IN ZIMBABWE

ITAI OFFAT MANYANHAIRE

WISDOM KURANGWA

This paper estimates the impact of tobacco curing on wood resources in Zimbabwe. The estimation was done using
the year 2009 and 2010 tobacco production statistics for small scale farmers obtained from the Tobacco Industry
Marketing Board (TIMB). The total mass of tobacco produced was multiplied by a factor 14 kilogrammes of wood
required to cure one kilogramme of tobacco. The estimation of the annual forest woodland clearance per every
hectare of tobacco cured was calculated using 0.6 hectares of forest woodland per every hectare factor obtained
from literature. Wood consumption increased significantly across all major tobacco producing regions of the
country. This was driven by a marked increase in the number of farmers and the size of land put under tobacco
across provinces. There was 19% increase in hectarage of forests cleared to cure tobacco which may be linked to the
growing shrinkage of forests in the country. Miombo woodlands were major sources of wood fuel due mainly to their
high energy value and their ecological dominance within the tobacco farming regions. Despite efforts by the tobacco
industry to provide farmers with coal for curing tobacco, small holder farmers continue to use wood fuel with
negative impacts on wood resources. There is need for the stakeholders in the tobacco industry to educate farmers
and enhance the use of coal, creation of woodlots and adoption of the energy saving technologies

International Journal of Development and Sustainability

2014