ZIMBABWE’S 2026 tobacco season is imploding, leaving transporters stranded and broke in Karoi and elsewhere while farmers watch their crop rot in queues that stretch for days.
“We have spent days hoping our turn will come, but the queues are snaking around and betraying us,” said Rodgers Banda from Mhangura.
“The money for food is gone. We are broke and hungry.”
The collapse is brutal and fast as the market season is gaining momentum.
Floors that once shifted 3 500 bales a day are now crawling at 500.
Prices have cratered to 60 cents per kilogramme, wiped out by global oversupply after two years of overproduction.
Farmers need cash to survive and plant again.
But they are getting nothing. And it is throwing them off balance.
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Transporters say the payout doesn’t cover fuel and vehicle repairs.
Trucks sit idle with no guarantees of a return load.
“How are we going to share from the little payment? It’s not enough to cover costs,” said a farmer from Tengwe in Hurungwe.
“We pay for fuel, tolls and labour, and then the deductions start.”
The debt trap is worse.
About 89% of Zimbabwe’s 106 000 small-scale growers are locked into contracts that bleed them dry.
Deductions for inputs, transport, finance charges and service fees often consume the bulk of earnings.
“Once debts are paid, very little is left,” one grower said.
“We borrow to plant, and the loan eats everything at sale.”
Patience has snapped.
With no money and no end to the queues, some transporters are dumping farmers’ bales and walking away.
Others refuse new loads until old debts are cleared, worsening the backlog at auction floors.
“Yes, transporters are spending weeks here. Some are now dumping farmers’ bales,” said a farmer from Birimahwe.
“Patience is running out and farmers are counting the losses before the crop is sold.”
The crisis has drawn government attention.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources minister Anxious Masuku, who toured the auction floors recently and met growers and transporters, said the delays and low prices were “unacceptable” and said the ministry was engaging stakeholders on pricing and floor efficiency.
He also warned that farmers who abandon contracted crops risk blacklisting in future seasons.
Industry players say the visit means little without immediate cash injections and enforcement against poor sales practices.
Contractors blame late deliveries and poor quality, but growers say the system is structured to leave them last in line.
Zimbabwe expanded production after strong prices in 2024 and 2025.
That bet backfired.
Global restocking has flooded the market and buyers are dictating terms.
Without competitive bidding, prices remain depressed.
“We are moving tobacco, but we are not moving forward,” Banda said.
Tobacco Industry Marketing Board spokesperson Chelesani Tsarwe said queues are easing since the May 18 directive.
“The board is continuously monitoring operations at all selling points to ensure efficient service delivery,” she said.
She attributed low prices to increased global supply, subdued demand in some export markets, and quality issues.
“Early-season deliveries consist of mixed grades, which naturally attract lower prices compared to premium leaf later in the season.”
Tsarwe added that prices remain determined by market forces of supply and demand.
“As more competitive buying participation continues across the floors and higher-quality tobacco enters the market, we expect pricing patterns to gradually stabilise.”
For thousands of families, the 2026 season isn’t just bad.
It’s leaving them wounded, broke and with no way out unless relief comes before the next planting window.
Without urgent intervention, many farmers say they will struggle to secure inputs for the next crop.
