However, most of the small scale farmers cannot afford to buy coal to cure their tobacco and have since turned to indiscriminate cutting down of the indigenous trees to process their tobacco.

“Firewood is the only available source of fuel we can secure to cure our tobacco, we know the government policy on indiscriminate cutting down of trees but we are left with no choice. The advantage of indigenous trees is that they are flammable and last long,” said one farmer.

The effects of the deforestation are starting to be witnessed as soil erosion is starting to take its toll on what used to be densely populated forest.

Vian Bhachi (77) said he had witnessed the forests being reduced into deserts.

“Our culture preserved forests by labeling them sacred, no one ever dared to cut down trees but tobacco farmers in this area have wrecked havoc and if nothing is done to stop them our trees will become extinct,” said Bhachi.

He added that herbalists in the area where now walking long distance in search of herbs.

“Indigenous trees are very helpful in many ways, parents are struggling to find certain trees for herbs when children experience stomach ache,” added Bhachi.

Among the trees which are under siege include Musasa and Mupfuti trees which are known to be flammable.

Hurungwe is fast becoming a desert and according to a non-governmental organization statistics more than 1000 indigenous trees are felled each year by tobacco farmers in the area.

A rural councilor in the area Bigboy Mutimusakwa said the situation is worsening each year.

“Farmers are cutting trees and vast tracts of land have now been turned into near deserts because of the indiscriminate cutting down of trees.”

“The policy is that a person should report to Volunteer Efforts for Developments Concerns (VEDCO) if they want to cut down the trees but most farmers go overnight and deforestation is imminent if the situation is not addressed urgently,” said Mutimusakwa

Government and environmental organizations are encouraging farmers to plant exotic trees which are quick to grow but the call seems to be falling on deaf ears.

Environment Friends, a non-organization has embarked on the awareness campaign to educate tobacco farmers on the need of conserving indigenous trees. The pilot project is aimed to be translated into all tobacco farming regions in the area.

Project Coordinator Arnold Chideme said they provide tobacco farmers with tree seeds of fast growing trees such as gum trees.

“We have noticed that Hurungwe used to be densely populated with indigenous trees but the trees are fast becoming extinct hence the need to educate the farmers the need of not cutting the trees. It takes decades for indigenous trees to grow so farmers should learn to subsidize,” said Chideme.

“We are teaching them not to be myopic, if they cut trees without replacing them, in the long run they will fail to trees to cure their tobacco,” said Chideme.

The Forestry Commission is spearheading the crafting of a legal instrument that will force farmers to plant trees.

Stakeholders at the Africa Environment Day asked whether it was possible to levy tobacco farmers in order to replenish trees cut down to cure the crop. Forestry Commission General Manager, Darlington Duwa, said they were working on a legal instrument to prevent against deforestation.

“The instrument will force farmers to set aside land for the growing of trees to be used during tobacco curing and these will be fast growing trees,” said Duwa. “Our research division is working on fast-growing tree varieties and the law we are talking about is almost 80% complete and should come into effect very soon.”

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture blamed the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) for the behavior of new farmers.

“They resort to cutting down trees because ZESA switches them off at a very critical stage of preparing their tobacco crop and they are left with no option. We also are aware that they are poor and do not have the resources to use best practices so we are not looking at levying anyone,” the official said.