TOBACCO PRODUCTION, DEFORESTATION AND THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN THE CONSERVATION OF FORESTRY RESOURCES IN ZIMBABWE: A REVIEW

Zimbabwe is the leading producer of tobacco in Africa. Prior to the land reform, the majority of white large-scale tobacco growers mainly used forced air curing units which use power to drive motors and fans to push the hot air fired by coal, through the curing system. With the introduction of the land reform in 2000, the number of registered small scale tobacco growers increased exponentially from nearly 8000 to 105000. Eighty percent (80%) of registered tobacco growers in Zimbabwe are small scale farmers who do not have their own woodlots and are not connected on the electricity grid. These rely on wood fuel as their source of energy in curing tobacco. In Zimbabwe, the bulk of farmers use the traditional barn. The barn uses a high amount of energy due to heat losses that are sustained through numerous structural elements such as walls, floors, roofs, exhaust chimney and the fireplace. In addition, the lack of own woodlots and exclusion from the national electricity grid in the small holder farming sector has caused much reliance on wood fuel as source of energy for tobacco curing. Various proposals have been put forward in order to contain the problems of tobacco based deforestation. Local establishments and community practices have played an integral role in customarily managing natural resources. There is need to evaluate community perception and the extent to which villagers participate in conservation of forest resources. The information would inform policy makers on ways to reduce tobacco related deforestation in Zimbabwe.