Zimbabwe tobacco hits new highs under smallholder contracts

Rows of green tobacco plants stretched towards the bush in a vast field of a crop that has rebounded to record levels in Zimbabwe, driven largely by smallholders contracted to Chinese firms.A few dozen aspiring tobacco farmers inspected the broad leaves on a field day of training in the cultivation of the plant, of which Zimbabwe is Africa's leading producer.Among them was Read Sola, 64, one of more than 300 farmers now growing tobacco in the southern Matabeleland region, which historically is not tobacco country.