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• Mugabe snuffs Zimbabwe tobacco, fueling Zambia boom 

Miklos Marffy lost his home, his farm and his crop two years ago when Zimbabwe's government seized his land near the northeastern town of Mvurwi. Last year, he grew $460,000 of tobacco in neighboring Zambia after a “reassuring” visit from President Levy Mwanawasa. Zimbabwe's neighbors are profiting from President Robert Mugabe's land redistribution program, which has ravaged the world's second-biggest tobacco export industry since 2000. More than 340 commercial farmers have relocated to Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania, creating jobs and boosting exports from some of the world's poorest countries. “The entry of Zimbabwean farmers into Zambia is a blessing to agriculture,” says Chance Kabaghe, 50, the chairman of Zambia Seed Co., who was deputy agriculture minister until last month and lives in the capital, Lusaka. “They bring with them the latest technology and knowledge.”

Universal Corp., the world's biggest tobacco-leaf merchant, and No. 3 Standard Commercial Corp. are backing the farmers

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