Farmers have earned more than half a billion United States dollars from the sale of tobacco since the start of the marketing season in March. This comes as the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has dismissed rumours of an early end to the selling season.
In a statement, TIMB dismissed the claims as false.
“Tobacco sales floors remain open to ensure all growers have adequate opportunity to market their crop.
“Growers are encouraged to continue with post-harvest processes, including grading and baling, in preparation for sale.
“TIMB is the sole authority mandated to announce the opening and closing of tobacco sales floors through its official and verified communication channels,” the board said.
According to the TIMB statistics, 217 million kilogrammes of tobacco worth US$561.6 million had been sold by Friday.
This is an increase of 34 percent from the 163.6 million worth US$554.1 million in the same period last year. Average prices have, however, remained low at US$2,58/kg on Friday compared to US$3.39/kg in the comparable period in 2025.
TIMB statistics show that the highest price since the opening of the season is US$5,75 per kg, which is nine percent lower than the US$6.30 per kg that had been recorded during the same period last year.
Mr George Seremwe said this season had not been good in terms of prices but urged farmers to grade and present their crop correctly to attract better prices.
“Farmers should grade their tobacco and make sure the hands are not mixed. They should not mix tobacco of different grades, as this will not work in their favour.
“Grading and presentation are very critical in tobacco marketing,” he said.
Mr Seremwe advised farmers to be wary of some unscrupulous buyers who were taking advantage of desperate farmers and buying the crop at low resale prices.
“Going forward from the best year, let us focus on quality to get viable prices and give you the profit needed. It is not about the size of the area under tobacco and volumes but quality and manageable crop size, which you should focus on to get higher returns,” he said.
The low prices being offered by buyers have also been attributed to tobacco oversupply on the global market.
At least 378 million kilogrammes of tobacco are expected to go under the hammer this season.
Tobacco is one of the major foreign currency earners in Zimbabwe, but has recently been under threat from a global ban.
Growers have thus been urged to diversify into other high-value export crops, such as chia, an oilseed, to boost their income.-herald
