By A Correspondent -A ZANU PF online activist, Mairosi Watungwa, on Friday celebrated Zimbabwe’s record tobacco production under President Emmerson Mnangagwa, making sweeping claims about agricultural progress while overlooking growing concerns over the poor returns being received by farmers.

Watungwa attributed the country’s reported increase in tobacco production to the Second Republic, portraying the latest figures as evidence of Mnangagwa’s agricultural success.

However, the record-breaking production figures have done little to silence concerns about the financial struggles of tobacco growers, who continue to complain about inadequate payments for their hard work.

In a statement titled “Second Republic Delivers: Tobacco Shatters 18-Year Record Under President Mnangagwa”, Chambati claimed that Zimbabwe had broken an 18-year production record following Mnangagwa’s rise to power.

“For 18 years, Zimbabwe’s tobacco record remained frozen at 237 million kilogrammes set in 2000, with production declining to a low of 188.9 million kilogrammes by 2017.

That stagnation was decisively broken in 2018, during the first selling season under President Mnangagwa’s visionary leadership,” he said.

He further claimed that the country’s tobacco industry had reached unprecedented levels, citing Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board figures indicating that farmers delivered 359.1 million kilogrammes during the 2026 season.
“With this momentum, the sector is now firmly on course to achieve the ambitious 500 million kilogramme target by 2030, cementing President Mnangagwa’s legacy of revitalising agriculture as the cornerstone of Vision 2030,” Watungwa added.

However, celebrating production volumes without addressing farmers’ earnings raises questions about the actual benefits of the industry’s expansion.

Tobacco farmers invest heavily in inputs, labour, irrigation, chemicals and transportation, yet concerns over low producer prices and inadequate returns continue to undermine the livelihoods of growers.
The increase in national output does not automatically translate into improved incomes for farmers, particularly when the cost of production and the prices offered for their crop remain major concerns.

For many growers, the real measure of success should not simply be how many kilogrammes are delivered to auction floors, but how much money farmers take home after meeting production costs.
While Watungwa’s message promoted the #EDelivers and #Vision2030AReality narratives, the persistent concerns surrounding farmers’ earnings present a less flattering picture of the country’s tobacco sector.

The central question remains whether record tobacco production is translating into meaningful economic benefits for the farmers whose labour sustains the industry.