By Cecilia Chiluba/Zambia/Lusaka
Zambia’s tobacco industry continues to grapple with several structural and operational challenges that are limiting its growth, despite recent investments aimed at reducing production costs and improving access to inputs.
Speaking on the state of the sector, industry regulators noted that productivity remains a major concern.
Zambia currently produces about 72 million kilograms of tobacco per year, accounting for roughly eight percent of regional output.
This places the country far behind regional peers such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique, which collectively dominate tobacco production in southern and eastern Africa. Tanzania’s production figures currently stand at 185 million kilograms, Malawi at 221 kilograms and Zimbabwe at 352 kilograms.
However, Zambia’s production targets are steadily being met, with 72 million kilograms already achieved, placing the industry close to its set benchmark of 80 million kilograms per annum by 2028.
One of the key constraints has been limited access to affordable fertilizer. While the establishment of fertilizer outlets across the country by Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) is expected to ease this burden, the sector is still recovering from years of high input costs that reduced farmer profitability and output.
Reduced transportation costs for both farmers and merchants are anticipated to help, but productivity gaps remain significant.
Access to finance, particularly for small-scale farmers, is another persistent challenge. Most tobacco growers remain dependent on contract or sponsored farming arrangements, where inputs are provided by merchants in exchange for future crop sales.
Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ) has expressed concern that few farmers are graduating into self-sponsored production, a transition seen as critical for long-term sustainability and farmer independence.
Speaking in an interview, TBZ Executive Director Robert Mwale, noted that the sector is also facing compliance-related challenges.
Mr. Mwale cited issues such as nesting, where foreign materials are mixed into tobacco bales, thereby undermining product quality and market confidence.
He also said side-selling—where farmers sell tobacco to buyers other than those who financed their production—has also been identified as a serious problem, disadvantaging sponsoring companies and destabilizing the market.
“The other issue is the nesting aspect of tobacco, where you put foreign products in tobacco itself that remains a challenge, also issues of side selling the tobacco where you are sponsored by one company but you end up selling your tobacco to another company to the disadvantage of the firm that sponsored you, that remains a challenge,” he added.
In response, Mr. Mwale stressed that the Board has intensified farmer sensitization programmes and strengthened enforcement mechanisms.
He disclosed that TBZ recently signed an agreement with the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) to allow for the prosecution of farmers involved in side-selling and related malpractices, a move aimed at restoring discipline and fairness within the industry.
Tobacco Board of Zambia aims to expand tobacco cultivation beyond 100,000 hectares by 2030.
