Zimbabwe Tobacco Farmers Turn to Coal

 

(allAfrica.com) Since its introduction to Zimbabwe by the British-American Tobacco (BAT) multinational years ago, tobacco culture, use, health and economic implications have become issues of social and academic inquiry.

Nicknamed the 'gold leaf' today, the crop poses a particularly difficult dilemma for development as its production has generated a wide range of employment, income, foreign exchange and other cash-contributing effects but there are growing concerns not only about the health hazards involved in tobacco production, but also about the environmental unsustainability of the crop in terms of excessive use of wood. Continued