ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe’s earnings from tobacco sales, a major foreign currency earner, fell 7.35% to a below target US$551 million this year. This March, at the start of the tobacco-selling season, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) said that Zimbabwe was likely to produce 205 million kg (205,000 tons) of tobacco this year. However, sales only amounted to 185 million kg.
TIMB data showed that last year the country produced and sold 200,000 tons and earned US$589 million.