Zimbabwe tobacco volumes up 35% by day 42, but average price falls 24%, Cabinet update shows

Zimbabwe tobacco volumes up 35% by day 42, but average price falls 24%, Cabinet update shows
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HARARE – Zimbabwe has recorded a sharp increase in tobacco sales volumes this marketing season, but farmers are earning less per kilogramme after the average price fell markedly compared to the same period last year.

During a post-Cabinet briefing, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Anxious Jongwe Masuka, said 203.88 million kilogrammes had been sold by day 42 of the marketing season at an average price of US$2.59 per kilogramme.

According to the Cabinet update, the current figures represent “a 35% increase in volume and a 24% decline in average price compared to the same period in 2025.”

The data indicates that while more tobacco is reaching the market this season, lower prices are reducing returns for growers, including small-scale farmers who depend on the crop for household income and school fees.

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The tobacco sector remains one of Zimbabwe’s major foreign currency earners and is a key source of employment along the value chain, from farming communities to transporters and merchants.

The update was presented as Cabinet received an overview of the 2025/2026 summer crops marketing season and the 2026 winter production plan, with the meeting chaired by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

In Mashonaland Central – a province with significant tobacco production in districts such as Mazowe, Shamva, Guruve and Bindura – farmers and contractors will be closely watching how prices trend in the remaining weeks of the selling season, as well as any policy measures announced around grading, side-marketing, payments and production costs.

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