
Rainos Kamutsa, a 54-year-old contracted tobacco farmer in Hurungwe East, Mashonaland West province, is struggling financially despite cultivating tobacco. He travels nearly 80km to Karoi town to sell his crop and recently earned less than US$600 from 1,000kg of tobacco, with prices as low as 80 cents per kilogramme. This situation is common among many small-scale growers in Zimbabwe's tobacco sector, where a global oversupply is driving down prices, turning the once-celebrated "golden leaf" into a source of debt. George Seremwe, president of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association, expressed concern over the low prices and has submitted a request to the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board TIMB for increased prices to cover production costs. He called for government intervention through a viable local funding model, noting that many farmers are working for foreign-based companies, leading to local financial losses. An anonymous buyer from an international company stated that prices are expected to remain subdued due to global oversupply and urged TIMB to use market research to guide production targets for long-term sustainability. Tian Ze Tobacco Company, a major contractor, registered 220 farmers for the 2024/25 season, with numbers slightly dropping to around 190 for the 2025/26 season, and plans to focus on quality over quantity. Another merchant emphasized the need for local financing, as international companies often use offshore accounts. TIMB chief executive officer Emma
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by NewsDay Zimbabwe.

The Karo Platinum Project is progressing as planned, with the group actively clearing the open-pit area and advancing crucial infrastructure works. These efforts are aimed at mitigating execution and operational risks, thereby ensuring the project remains on schedule for its anticipated production start in 2027.
Must ReadThe 2026 conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran has revealed that hosting American military bases in Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait no longer guarantees national security. Instead, these bases have made host countries prime targets for retaliatory strikes, challenging the long-held belief that a US military presence deters regional threats. During the conflict, Iran targeted infrastructure within Gulf states housing US troops, including radar installations, personnel sites, data centers, energy facilities, and desalination plants, rather than directly attacking the US homeland. This created an asymmetric security dilemma where Gulf populations bore the consequences of US policies. The conflict also led to significant economic disruption, with multinational corporations withdrawing from the Middle East, projected GDP losses of $120 billion to $194 billion for Gulf states, and a 27% drop in international tourist arrivals. The redeployment of US THAAD and Patriot anti-missile systems from Gulf states to Israel further exposed the conditional nature of US alliance commitments, leaving Gulf airspace vulnerable. The article suggests that Israel's asymmetric influence on US Middle East policy prioritizes Israeli security interests, often at the expense of Gulf states. A comparison of security strategies shows that Kuwait, with full alignment to the US, suffered extensive damage, while the UAE, balancing it