Under the blistering June sun, the cracked red soils of Masvingo’s farmlands stretch to the horizon, barren and bone-dry. Once thick with the lush green of tobacco, Zimbabwe’s “green gold,” these fields now tell a stark story of climate trauma. El Niño has arrived with a punishing force, and Masvingo’s tobacco farmers are paying the price.
Local News

Under the blistering June sun, the cracked red soils of Masvingo’s farmlands stretch to the horizon, barren and bone-dry. Once thick with the lush green of tobacco, Zimbabwe’s “green gold,” these fields now tell a stark story of climate trauma. El Niño has arrived with a punishing force, and Masvingo’s tobacco farmers are paying the price.

Tobacco farming in this southern province, long considered marginal for the crop, had been gaining momentum in recent years. Lured by the…