• Authorities will open tobacco auctions on March 4, 2026, with contract sales starting March 5.

• Initial projections target a 360,000-ton harvest, above last season’s record 354,881 tons.

• Tobacco exports generated nearly $1.2 billion in revenue in 2024/2025.

Zimbabwe will officially launch its 2025/2026 tobacco marketing season on March 4, 2026, with the opening of auction sales, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) announced.

TIMB said it will open contract tobacco sales on March 5, one day after the start of auctions, in a statement published on its X page.

All stakeholders are advised that the 2026 Tobacco Marketing Season will open on Wednesday, 4 March 2026 (Auction Tobacco Sales) and Thursday, 5 March 2026 (Contract Tobacco Sales)#SustainableFarming #SmartFarming #2026 pic.twitter.com/jZV99twAWI

— Tobacco Industry & Marketing Board (@timb_zw) February 12, 2026

“This date has been approved by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr. Anxious Jongwe Masuka. A brief ceremony will mark the official opening of the 2026 tobacco marketing season […] Stakeholders are invited to take note of these dates and prepare accordingly,” Emmanuel Matsvaire, TIMB’s Chief Executive Officer, said in remarks reported by local media outlet The Herald.

Zimbabwe ranks as Africa’s largest tobacco producer and the world’s third-largest exporter after Brazil and India. Authorities raise annual growth ambitions for the sector as tobacco remains a key foreign currency earner.

For the 2025/2026 season, initial projections target a harvest of 360,000 tons of tobacco leaf. This estimate, which authorities have yet to confirm, would surpass the previous record of 354,881 tons achieved during the last campaign.

TIMB published January estimates showing that farmers expanded tobacco cultivation to 162,625 hectares, marking a 42% increase from 114,301 hectares recorded in the 2024/2025 season. Seed sales rose 11% at the start of the growing season. These indicators signal potential yield improvements and support expectations that producers will meet output targets.

Moreover, authorities expect higher output in 2025/2026 to strengthen export performance. TIMB reported that tobacco sales generated nearly $1.2 billion in revenue at the end of the 2024/2025 campaign.

Farmers primarily cultivate tobacco in the provinces of Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East and Manicaland.

This article was initially published in French by Stéphanas Assocle

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum