Zimbabwe tobacco output seen up, but shy of target

HARARE (Reuters) Zimbabwe's tobacco production is set to continue its recovery this year, but output might be short of the projected 150 million kg due to limited funding and erratic rainfall, farmers said as the auction season opened on Wednesday.
Tobacco, which earned Zimbabwe about $400 million in 2011, has fallen behind mining as the country's leading foreign currency earner, after President Robert Mugabe's seizure of white-owned farms saw production of most major crops plummeting.
Tobacco output declined to 48 million kg in 2008, from a peak of 236 million kg in 2000. Continued