Africa-Press – Tanzania. TOBACCO sales in the country significantly increased from 39,000,000 kilogrammes in 2017/18 to about 57,000,000kgs this financial year, an increment equivalent to 46 per cent, Parliament was told here on Tuesday.
The increment, according to Deputy Minister for Agriculture Hussein Bashe was a result of massive awareness campaigns being undertaken by the government.
“During 2020/2021, about eight local buying companies had entered into contracts with producers of tobacco countrywide,” he said.
Mr Bashe was responding to a question posed by Sikonge Member of Parliament (MP), Joseph Kakunda (CCM), who wanted to know what the government was doing to solve the long-term problem of markets for tobacco in the country.
However, Mr Bashe said through the Tobacco Board, the government was continuing to look for markets locally and at the international level.
According to him, the demand for tobacco depended on the changing situations in the international market, adding that it was fluctuating at an average of between six and seven percent according to World Health Organisation (WHO) agreement for reduction of tobacco use, which Tanzania was one of the signatories.
The deputy minister said the government was continuing to lure farmers by insisting on contract buying, looking for new buyers as well as looking for international markets, that is why major buying companies were still increasing.
He added that the government was equally eyeing the Chinese market and already the government had brought another seedling of the product and trials had been made, where the sample had been forwarded to relevant authorities for further procedures.
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