Tobacco manufacture in centralAfrica / economic aspects and future prospects

Abstract

Tobacco culture has been known in Africa for over three countries Ships coming from America in the early 17th century brought with them tobacco seeds which were planted along riverbanks in the western part of Africa where slave trade was operating, Tobacco spread to South Africa, and by 1892 about 3 million kg were grown in the garden patches which had spread into the interior of South Africa. The history of tobacco culture in North Africa goes back to the late 18th century. Rhodesia started special tobacco culture for export in 1893. The Second world war boosted the tobacco demand and Rhodesia expanded its tobacco growing. Cameroon was the only area in the Central African sub-region growing considerable canities for export in the 1890's, Today, African tobacco production covers 12 per cent of the world’s tobacco and supplies about 15 per cent of total world exports of the commodity.