The Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (COTTCO) has forecast a fruitful season for the 2025 Zimbabwe cotton crop, thanks to good rainfall.

Rainfall has been evenly distributed January though February smack on a late planting season after poor El niño saturation. 

Changing weather necessitated farmers to plant past the usual October timing for the Lowveld and November for the Highveld areas.

By early February, 12% of the crop had emerged from the ground while 31% was at the two-leaf budding stage.

According to COTTCO’s CEO Rocky Mutenha in a New Zimbabwe report,  the most advanced crop representing 7% of cultivation is past flowering.

Despite last season’s poor yields,  the nationwide cultivated area has expanded to 200,000 hectares due to rising optimism.

One motivating factor is the procurement of finance and inputs by COTTCO, which has  settled 75% of seasonal dues to farmers. 

The company paid all farmers’ arrears of the 2024 season that were payable in U.S. dollars. Payment of the remaining 25%, payable in ZiG, apparently will be complete before the marketing season begins. 

The marketing of the annual Zimbabwe cotton crop normally runs from May through August, soon after the April harvest. A notable recent harvest is that of April 2023 at 90,000 tonnes, which won farmers prices of around US¢40 per kg. In retrospect, the 2022 season had derailed production to 48,000 tonnes.

The 2025 season in its part could reprise 2023’s receipts despite currently low world prices if the current favorable weather keeps.

COTTCO indeed concludes that if the ongoing spate of rains go on through March, they will insure a good harvest. And as the statistics below reveal, a great harvest will strengthen the place of the country’s economically-important textile good.

Zimbabwe Cotton Statistics

Cotton is an important cash crop for farmers, textile and export business in Zimbabwe, with 1.3 million people dependant on it.  It is also a source of direct jobs for 60,000 people in textile factories, distribution and logistics. As of 2023, 75% of income from cotton-growing regions of Zimbabwe came from this “white gold.” 

Is Zimbabwe a major cotton-producing nation? 

Zimbabwe is a top 30 world producer of cotton behind other African nations such as Mali, Benin and Tanzania. In 2023, the country averaged 215,000 bales or 0.2% of global production. 

How has Zim cotton production behaved in recent years? 

Zimbabwe has been shuffling production gains and losses in the past 3 years between 2022 and 2024. In 2022, production stood at a meager 48,000 tonnes but would double to nearly 100,000 tonnes in the 2023 season.  The output would then suffer a weather blow during an El Niño drought in 2024 to 40,000 tonnes, according to Sunday Mail Zimbabwe. Arguably, 2025 looks onto a great comeback similar to that of 2023, going by positive weather outlook. 

Where does cotton grow in Zimbabwe?

Cotton thrives in the midlands, the highveld and the lowveld regions of the country, which produce 71% of the total output. In 2022, Mashonaland West accounted for 17% of all production while Masvingo contributed 13%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Other areas included Mashonaland East (13% of production), Mashonaland Central (11%) and Manicaland (9%).