By Timothy S. Donahue

Top Takeaways:

• Price pressure: Zimbabwe and Tanzania are discussing closer cooperation as falling tobacco prices squeeze growers in both countries.
• Grower focus: Officials say protecting farmer incomes and ensuring long-term viability are top priorities.
• Regional strategy: The countries are considering a formal agreement covering trade, market access and tobacco-sector collaboration.

Africa’s two largest flue-cured tobacco producers are exploring closer cooperation as global tobacco prices decline, continuing to pressure grower profitability and sector sustainability.

During a break from the Southern African Development Community ministerial meetings in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Tanzania agreed to pursue stronger collaboration on tobacco production, trade, and grower protection during bilateral talks between Agriculture, Mechanization and Water Resources Development Minister Anxious Masuka and Tanzania’s Minister of Agriculture Daniel Godfrey Chongolo.

Masuka said the discussions included plans for a memorandum of understanding to strengthen agricultural cooperation between the two countries. “We discussed the need for a memorandum of understanding,” Masuka said. “We discussed the need for trade and much more.”

Tobacco emerged as a central topic in the talks, underscoring the crop’s importance to both economies. “Tanzania is the second biggest producer of flue-cured tobacco on the African continent after Zimbabwe,” Masuka said. “And they, like us, are also suffering from the reduction in prices. We discussed joint efforts to ensure that we protect our growers and that tobacco production becomes viable and sustainable.”

Zimbabwe remains one of Africa’s leading exporters of tobacco leaf. Tanzania has steadily increased production in recent years and is now among the continent’s most significant tobacco-producing nations. Chongolo said both countries face similar challenges.

“We have many things in common with Zimbabwe, particularly in tobacco production, and we also share similar challenges as producers,” Chongolo said. “We therefore agreed on the need to work together to ensure that tobacco production remains viable and sustainable for our farmers and our people.”

The discussions come as growers across Africa face a combination of softer global leaf prices, rising input costs, and increasing sustainability expectations from international buyers. Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has increasingly focused on measures to stabilize grower returns through marketing reforms, contract regulation, and greater transparency across the tobacco value chain.

Officials say future cooperation between Zimbabwe and Tanzania could include market-access initiatives, value-added processing, grower-support programs, and the exchange of production technologies and regulatory frameworks, according to local media reports.

The ministers also discussed broader agricultural trade opportunities, including potential rice exports from Tanzania to Zimbabwe.

“Closer cooperation between Africa’s leading tobacco producers could strengthen the region’s bargaining position while improving sustainability and competitiveness within the global tobacco market,” Chongolo said.