Zimbabwe farms swap food for cash crops

Farms turn to tobacco crops to make money, leading to food shortages in country once known as ‘Africa’s bread basket’.

As his ninetieth birthday events unfold, many Zimbabweans are questioning Robert Mugabe’s economic legacy.

His land reform programme handed farmland seized from white Zimbabweans to black Zimbabweans, with promises of increased production, food and wealth for the people. 

But a decade on, as the economy continues to struggle, thousands of farmers have turned to tobacco production to make money, meaning staples such as maize are neglected.

The “bread basket of southern Africa” now has to import food to feed its people. 

Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa reports from Harare.