By Bisola Adeyemo
Tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe experienced more hailstorms this year due to extreme weather conditions resulting from climate change
Chief executive of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) Meanwell Gudu told The Herald Finance & Business in an interview.
Tobacco is one of the country’s major export commodities alongside gold and platinum.
“One of the major challenges that we faced this season is that the hailstorms were more prevalent than the past seasons and we are doing an assessment to ascertain the extent of the damage.”
According to him, the unusual rainfall pattern in the country had threatened farm yields and national food security.
In December last year, a Marondera farmer lost his entire tobacco crop after a hailstorm swept across his farm.
The disaster came at a time as Mr Tawanda Chihwai was preparing to start picking his “golden leaf” for curing. According to Mr Chihwai, the devastating hailstorm lasted for about 15 minutes and left his entire crop destroyed.
Early this year, another hailstorm hit parts of Mhangura, a key tobacco growing area, destroying homes and crops. Climate experts say the prevalence of hailstorm incidence was largely resulting from the adverse effects of climate change.
Mr Gudu said the tobacco industry regulatory board was also carrying out a comprehensive crop assessment to project potential yields for the current season.
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