Tobacco farming in this southern province, long considered marginal for the crop, had been gaining momentum in recent years. Lured by the promise of strong auction prices and relative resilience to market shocks, hundreds of smallholder farmers in districts like Gutu, Zaka, and Chivi took the gamble. But this season, the odds turned sharply against them.
“We planted with hope, but we harvested dust,” says Simon Moyo, 48, a communal farmer in Gutu. “My barns are empty. Not because I didn’t work hard, but because the rains simply didn’t come.”
According to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), Zimbabwe’s 2024/25 tobacco crop has shrunk to 231 million kilograms, down from 296 million kg last year, a 22% plunge. The decline, analysts say, is largely due to the El Niño weather pattern that brought erratic rains and extended dry spells during the critical transplanting and vegetative growth stages.
For Masvingo farmers, who lack irrigation infrastructure and depend almost entirely on rainfall, the damage has been catastrophic.
Farmers like Miriam Ndiraya, a widow in Zaka, had invested nearly all her savings into buying seedlings, fertiliser, and hiring labourers.
“I expected to harvest 800 kilograms,” she said. “I barely managed 150. And most of it is of such poor quality, the buyers don’t want to pay even half the price I was counting on.”
The quality degradation is now widespread. Tobacco buyers have downgraded leaf grades across Masvingo, citing poor colour, shrivelling, and low nicotine content, symptoms of moisture stress during the growth phase.
TIMB spokesperson Isheunesu Moyo acknowledged the challenges in a recent briefing: “This season has highlighted the vulnerabilities of our decentralized tobacco expansion strategy. Without robust water support systems, areas like Masvingo cannot withstand climate variability.”
The tobacco crisis in Masvingo is part of a larger agricultural emergency. The province has been listed as one of the worst affected by the El Niño drought, with over 30% of the population facing food insecurity, according to the Civil Protection Unit. Maize, cotton, and sugarcane have also suffered extensive losses.
In April, President Mnangagwa declared the drought a national disaster, paving the way for international assistance. But for tobacco farmers, who often operate independently of food aid mechanisms, relief has been slow to trickle in.
Some farmers are exploring climate-smart techniques to shield themselves from future shocks. In Chivi, a cluster of growers trained by an NGO has adopted potholing, a traditional technique that traps rainwater in shallow pits to retain soil moisture longer.
But such methods, while helpful, are not enough.
“We need irrigation. That’s the beginning and end of the conversation,” says Agritex officer Tawanda Mazuru. “Without water infrastructure, the next El Niño will be just as destructive or worse.”
The tobacco sector is Zimbabwe’s largest foreign currency earner after gold, bringing in over US$800 million annually. A prolonged slump threatens not only the rural economy but also the national treasury.
Government is now pinning its hopes on the 2025/26 season. Forecasts from the Meteorological Services Department suggest a return to normal rainfall patterns, and TIMB has set a bold production target of 300 million kg.
But for Masvingo farmers like Moyo and Ndiraya, that promise rings hollow.
“They always say next year will be better,” Ndiraya says, her voice hardening. “But hope doesn’t fill a barn. Or feed a family.”
As climate volatility becomes the new normal, Masvingo’s tobacco farmers stand at a crossroads. Without urgent investment in irrigation, insurance schemes, and sustainable inputs, Zimbabwe’s bold experiment to expand its tobacco frontier into the south may well collapse leaving scorched fields, broken livelihoods, and a bitter aftertaste in its wake. (14 June 2025)