Zimpapers Tobacco Expo slated for Rusape

Ray Bande
Senior Reporter

ZIMPAPERS Mutare (The Manica Post and Diamond FM) will host its inaugural Manicaland Tobacco Expo in Rusape early next month.

The event, which coincides with the launch of the 2025 tobacco marketing season, seeks to explore business opportunities and facilitate networking among tobacco industry stakeholders, including farmers, service providers, merchants and buyers.

The expo provides a rare platform for tobacco stakeholders to come under one roof to address the challenges that have plagued the industry in previous years, hindering productivity and profitability.

The Manica Post Finance and Admin Officer, Mr Advance Khumalo, said: “We feel there is a yawning gap and hunger for an understanding of the complexities in the tobacco industry, hence this idea to host the inaugural tobacco expo.

“We will be bringing together all the stakeholders in the tobacco value chain, from growers, service providers, policy regulators, buyers and merchants, among others during the three-day event.”

Mr Khumalo said the door is also open for exhibitors in the tobacco and related industries.

“We will also have room for exhibitors to showcase their products and services during this event. This could be service providers in the tobacco industry or any of those whose services and products relate to the industry,” said Mr Khumalo.

With the 2025 tobacco marketing season set to commence on March 5 – a sense of anticipation, mixed with apprehension pervades the golden leaf farming community.

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) last week announced that the 2025 tobacco marketing season commences on March 5 for auction floors and March 6 for contract sales.

Zimbabwe is expecting 300 million kg of tobacco this season after farmers increased the area under tobacco to 84 661 hectares, surpassing last year’s 82 392 hectares.

Tobacco is the country’s second largest foreign currency earner after gold, with about 98 percent of the locally produced crop exported in semi-processed form, amid growing calls for value addition.

There has been high demand of the cash crop in China, and funding from both Government and private tobacco companies have boosted output.