Zimbabwe’s national tobacco crop has exceeded market expectations by reaching 119 million kg, the largest recorded since 2003, reports the Financial Times.

This year’s bumper harvest compares with 59 million kg last year, and will be worth about USD 350 million to Zimbabwe. The biggest tobacco crop of more than 230 million kg was achieved in 2000.
This year about 50,000 smallholder farmers grew 65-70 per cent of the tobacco crop, compared with less than 10 per cent a decade ago. Most large-scale growers have been driven off their land, while the handful that survive are suffering from the high cost of bank loans, with interest rates often exceeding 12 per cent.
Traditionally, the main buyers of Zimbabwe leaf were from western countries whose manufacturers were willing to pay a premium for the country’s high quality tobacco. This too has changed: China is estimated to have bought 33 per cent of the 2010 crop and is expected to be an even larger buyer next year. (pi)