The 2020 tobacco marketing season in Zimbabwe will open April 29, a week after originally planned, reported The Herald.

The original opening date was April 22, but this was postponed as stakeholders, led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Mechanisation, explored safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The national 21-day lockdown was originally planned to end April 19, but President Mnangagwa has extended this for another 2 weeks, until May 3.
According to the report, Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s largest export crop and the country’s second largest export earner, after gold, as it brings in around USD 1 billion annually. Deliveries are projected to decline 20 per cent this year, after the negative impact of dry weather spells and drought.
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has stated that the guidelines given are only the minimal conditions expected from all floor operators, who have been working closely with the Ministry of Health and Child Care. This includes closing all market vendors around the auction floor sites, farmers only being allowed to make deliveries once a week, no banking facilities on site and the requirement that all tobacco must be booked prior to its being sold. TIMB have also started an awareness campaign to notify all farmers and stakeholders of the guidelines set out and to alert them to the danger of COVID-19.