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• ZIMBABWE: Tobacco Sector Up in Smoke as State Violence Escalates 

Tobacco was the mainstay of the southern African state’s economy during the 1980s and 1990s. The ‘‘golden leaf’’ was the county's main export product, accounting for around 50 percent of Zimbabwe's foreign currency earnings. Some 700,000 people are dependent on the industry for their living.

For decades, Zimbabwean tobacco was coveted by blenders as amongst the finest in the world. According to statistics from the statutory body Zimbabwe Trade (ZimTrade), the country was the second largest producer of flue-cured tobacco after the United States in the 1990s. Its crop was recognised for its quality in major tobacco markets in Europe, Asia and America.

But, since 2000 when the government introduced chaotic ‘‘land reform’’ policies, the tables have been turned. Brazil has since taken over as the world’s second largest flue-cured tobacco producer. . . .

ZTA figures show the decline in output: from 267 million kg in 2000, when the ruling ZANU-PF started to turn the screws on its political opposition, to 202 million kg in 2001; 165 million kg in 2002; 80 million kg in 2003; and a paltry 68 million kg in 2004.

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