
Zimbabwe's tobacco sector now supports 135,284 households, a 37% increase since 2017, after generating US$1.2 billion in revenue during the 2024/25 agricultural season. Improved rainfall contributed to 355 million kilograms of tobacco sold. The government aims for a record 400 million kilograms in the 2025/26 season, with over 162,000 hectares planted, marking a 42% increase from the previous season. Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board TIMB chief executive officer Emmanuel Matsvaire noted that growers' earnings averaged US$10,000 in 2025, double the 2017 figure. The TIMB has also reduced tobacco classification grades to 669 to improve farmer profitability. Despite global oversupply pressures and price standoffs in other countries, Matsvaire stated that high-quality tobacco would continue to fetch good prices. TIMB head of ICT Edson Nhemachena mentioned that while 459,000 growers are registered, only about 100,000 are active. A new biometric grower management system has been introduced to prevent account abuse and verify indebtedness under contract farming.
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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