Zimbabwe’s 2025 tobacco marketing season closed yesterday (August 7), with farmers earning a record $1.2 billion from 352.7 million kilograms of the golden leaf, significantly surpassing the 300 million kg target About 11% of total production was sold to China, according to the Tobacco Industry & Marketing Board (TIMB) “The global demand for tobacco also pushed the prices,” TIMB chairman Patrick Devenish said in an interview “The Chinese are our biggest customers and the demand for nicotine through the vaping business also had a good effect for us.” According to TIMB data, the average 2025 price was $3.32/kg, slightly down from last year’s $3.43 Auction prices peaked at $4.99/kg, while contract growers saw highs of $6.30/kg Lands and Agriculture Permanent Secretary Prof Obert Jiri hailed the season as a milestone for the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan, urging greater local value addition, which currently stands at 10.15%, toward a 30% goal under the National Development Strategy 1 With 93% of production under contract farming, the government is working to refine the system and has proposed a $50 million agriculture fund Stakeholders emphasized the need for local financing to reduce reliance on foreign currency and boost cigarette manufacturing, which currently produces 4 billion sticks annually against a 17 billion-stick capacity Zimbabwe, the world’s fifth-largest tobacco producer, has over 140,000 active farmers Originally published on The Zimbabwe Mail All Zim News is a central hub for all things Zimbabwean, curating news from across the country so no story is missed Alongside aggregation, our team of nationwide reporters provides real-time, on-the-ground coverage Stay informed and connected — reach us at admin@allzimnews.com . Source: Thezimbabwemail
Image from China Fuels Zimbabwes Record-Breaking 12B Tobacco Season 