Zimbabwe’s tobacco booms, but Black growers complain of debt

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s tobacco is flourishing again. A few thousand white farmers produced the bulk of the tobacco crop before the land reform but now the number of Black growers, mainly small-scale, has risen to more than 145,000. The recovery has been stunning in recent years with Zimbabwe’s tobacco crop estimated to be 200 million kilograms this year, up from 180 million kilograms in last year. Farmers are charged high interest on their loans and many fall prey to predatory contractors, said Tobacco Association of Zimbabwe president George Seremwe. More than 90% of tobacco farmers want out of contract growing, but cannot find alternative funding, according to a study published last year by Tobacco Control, a journal on tobacco research.