Zimbabwe Tobacco Board Head Tells 145 000 Tobacco Farmers: “A Quarter of Your Income Must Come from Hemp by 2025”

Cannabiz Africa reports

Meanwell Gudu says tobacco demand declining, farmers must look to hemp

Anticipated demand for cannabis is projected to continue to grow while tobacco output globally may decline 15% by 2030, according to Meanwell Gudu, the CEO of Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board.

“One of the alternative crops we are looking at is industrial hemp,” he told Bloomberg’s Ray Ndlovu by phone on 4 April 2022

The board has 145,000 registered tobacco growers, who started selling 2022’s crop at auctions last week. Farmers will be encouraged to plant cannabis so that a quarter of their income comes from the plant by 2025, Gudu said.

“It’s a crop that requires attention to detail, just like tobacco, and we are confident that they will have the skills,” he said. “We want to be part of the entire industrial hemp chain.”

The board will look for export markets for industrial hemp including in China, the EU and will also seek to develop a local market, Gudu said.

Source

https://www.cannabiz-africa.com/zimbabwe-tobacco-board/?mc_cid=1d1506d0ed

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