Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza, Online Reporter
TOBACCO farmers from Mangwe and Bulilima districts in Matabeleland South Province have to date earned US$140 000 from the sale of the golden leaf.
Over 120 smallholder farmers, the majority of them women and widows, started selling their tobacco at the Bitumen World Training Centre in Marula.
The first-ever tobacco auction floor opened in Marula in May. The occasion marked a major milestone in Matabeleland’s transformation under a pioneering commercial tobacco farming project now in its second year.
The initiative, which started in the 2023/24 season with just 17 farmers, has seen exponential growth, attracting 122 growers from villages across Bulilima and Mangwe.
Spearheaded by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) and private partner Atlas Agri, the project is not only introducing a new cash crop to the area but also redefining what’s possible in semi-arid zones long dismissed as unsuitable for tobacco.
“Naturally Cured Virginia (NCV) tobacco sales in Marula, Matabeleland South, have to date grossed 9 170 232 kilogrammes, earning the farmers a solid US$141 203. This is proving that tobacco is transforming lives across regions in the country,” said TIMB in a statement.
Traditionally, tobacco production has been concentrated in the Mashonaland provinces, which usually record high rainfall and suitable soils for flue-cured tobacco.
Matabeleland South, by contrast, is one of the driest regions in the country, with erratic rainfall patterns, frequent droughts, and degraded soils.
