Tobacco Boom Expected In Zim’s 2025 Season, Farmers Anticipate Higher Kilos

Staff Reporter

Despite some damage to the crop from recent hail storms, Zimbabwe’s tobacco farmers are optimistic about the upcoming marketing season, set to begin in early March. As Africa’s largest tobacco producer, Zimbabwe is preparing for a potentially record-breaking harvest.

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has announced that tobacco auction floors will open on March 5, followed by contract sales on March 6. To prevent side marketing and ensure only legitimate farmers participate, the TIMB will implement a biometric grower management system.

“The new system uses biometric data capture, linking each farmer’s unique grower number to their fingerprints and GPS coordinates of their households and farms,” explained Chelesani Tsarwe, TIMB’s public affairs officer.

Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s largest agricultural export and a top foreign currency earner. Last year, farmers harvested over 240 million kilograms of tobacco, generating $1.4 billion in export earnings. Zimbabwe exports tobacco to over 60 countries, with China, the UAE, and South Africa being among its largest buyers.

The country is now focusing on adding value to the tobacco leaf locally to boost revenue and create jobs. A team is currently conducting a crop assessment to estimate the expected national yield for the 2024/2025 season.