Zimbabwe, Africa's largest tobacco producer, has begun its annual tobacco-selling season with officials and farmers projecting a sharp decline in harvests and quality because of a drought blamed on climate change and worsened by the El Niño weather phe...Zimbabwean President Constantino Chiwenga, centre, holds a tobacco leaf while officially opening the tobacco selling season in Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday, March 13, 2024.
Agriculture minister Anxious Masuka said small-scale farmers, who lack equipment and depend on rain, produce about 75% of the crop. This makes the country’s production vulnerable to weather conditions. With last year's record harvest, Zimbabwe regained its spot as one of the world’s top 10 exporters of tobacco, alongside mega producer China, India, Brazil, the United States and Indonesia.
The country had hoped to increase its harvest to 300 million kilograms by the end of 2025 under a government-led tobacco transformation plan adopted in 2021.“The drought is likely to cost farmers 20% or more of their usual earnings,” said George Seremwe, president of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association, which represents Black small-scale farmers.