TOBACCO production in the country has increased by 167 per cent from 22 million kilogrammes in 2000 to 59 million kilogrammes this year.

Alliance One Tobacco Tanzania Ltd (AOTTL) Managing Director, Graham Kayes, revealed this in a press statement issued here yesterday, noting that tobacco has grown to become the second largest cash crop in Tanzania.

“This excellent growth has resulted in our local farmers being able to witness an increase on their labour returns from an average of 500,000/- to 3m/- per hectare this season. Alliance One is proud to be associated with this tremendous progress,” the statement quoted Kayes as saying.

The company is celebrating ten years since it was established in the country where it will extend to the media a tour of its premises to familiarize the press with its processing operations as well as acquaint them with numerous initiatives it has undertaken to help improve the growing of tobacco in Tanzania.

The statement said that it is important to show the changes that have come about in the past ten years as the company has a significant impact on Tanzania’s tobacco industry.

“The company has been in operation in this country for ten years now and during these years we have witnessed and been part of many important changes that have helped to shape not only Alliance as a company but the industry as a whole, to the benefit of the many Tanzanians who work hard to produce the tobacco,” said the statement.

Alliance One is a large-scale tobacco buying, processing and selling company in the country which was formed after a merger between Dimon and Standard Commercial.

The company’s corporate affairs manager, Hamis Liana, said the media will be shown procedures followed when tobacco is being received at the factory, how it is stored before processing, how it is prepared for processing and finally the state of processed tobacco when it is ready for shipment to the cigarette manufacturers around the world.