Area Under Tobacco Up 22% As 2025/26 Season Kicks Off

More than 27,000 hectares of tobacco have been planted for the 2025/26 season as transplanting of the dryland crop picks up across much of the country, representing a 22 per cent increase from last year.

According to the latest weekly update from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), a total of 27,215 hectares has been planted so far, up from 22,392 hectares during the same period last season.

Most of the crop, 23,517 hectares, is under irrigation, while 3,698 hectares are dryland.

Mashonaland East Province has seen the biggest jump, with tobacco plantings up 41 per cent to 8,260 hectares from 5,878 hectares last year.

Manicaland recorded a 17 per cent increase, reaching 9,498 hectares compared with 8,598 hectares last season, followed by Mashonaland West with a 15.4 per cent rise to 4,227 hectares. Mashonaland Central posted an 8 per cent gain, reaching 5,098 hectares from 4,705 hectares.

Smaller gains were seen in Midlands and Masvingo, with plantings doubling in Midlands from 20 to 40 hectares and starting from zero to 92 hectares in Masvingo.

Zimbabwe remains Africa’s largest tobacco producer and ranks fourth globally, behind China, India, and Brazil.

Last season, the country earned US$1.2 billion from tobacco sales, with over 85 per cent of the crop produced by small-scale farmers, more than 60 per cent of whom are beneficiaries of the land reform programme.