Zimbabwe’s tobacco industry is looking to cannabis as a major revenue source as anti-tobacco sentiment is expected to curb demand for one of the country’s key exports, reports Bloomberg.

According to Meanwell Gudu, CEO of Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, anticipated demand for cannabis is projected to continue to grow while tobacco output globally may decline 15 per cent by 2030. “One of the alternative crops we are looking at is industrial hemp, we want to be part of the entire industrial hemp chain,” he was quoted as saying.
Tobacco earned the country USD 819 million in revenue last year. The cultivation of cannabis for medical use in Zimbabwe was first legalized in 2019. The board has 145,000 registered tobacco growers, who started selling this year’s crop at auctions in April. Farmers will be encouraged to plant cannabis so that a quarter of their income comes from the plant by 2025, said Gudu. “It’s a crop which requires attention to detail, just like tobacco, and we are confident that they will have the skills,” he said.
The country exported 30 tons of industrial hemp to Switzerland last year, its first foray into the European market, said Zorodzai Maroveke, the founder of the Zimbabwe Industrial Hemp Trust. The group is partnering with the tobacco board to facilitate the “smooth transition” to cannabis for commercial purposes, the report said. “Switzerland is the first gateway into Europe,” Maroveke said in an interview. Another 20 tons of industrial hemp will be exported to other European nations, she said.
The board will look for export markets for industrial hemp, including in China and the European Union, and will also try to develop a local market, Gudu said.