Over the years tobacco has been the top choice cash crop for many Zimbabwean farmers and is the leading foreign exchange earner for the country, contributing over 10 percent of its GDP. But interest in the commodity has increased in recent years as quality of production dropped in Brazil, the largest tobacco producer in the world, leading to higher tobacco prices on the international market.

According to BizDay, Zimbabwe’s daily business paper, of the 106,456 registered tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe in 2014, 15,178 were new to the plant as more farmers shifted from food production to the cash crop.

“More Zimbabweans seems to be shifting into tobacco due to its attractiveness. If you look at its price on the commodities market it has been quite attractive,” Christopher Mugaga, an economic analyst based in Harare told SABC News.

Zimbabwe’s tobacco production, which is the largest in Africa, is however plagued with several challenges including lack of enough electricity capacity to cure tobacco leaves, which has led to wanton deforestation for firewood.