Tobacco is a perennial crop grown all year round, extremely labour intensive, requiring about 3000 hours per hectare as against 298 and 265 for beans and maize.
During the past decade, tobacco leaf production has shifted from high-income countries to developing countries, particularly those in Africa.  21 African countries grow tobacco, with the top 3 being : Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe produce 5.2% of the total leaf production in the world, which is 60% of Africa’s production.

Tobacco is a very demanding plant to the content and ratio of  mineral nutrients in the soil. Therefore, the use of fertilizers significantly increase the yield, improve the quality, its chemical composition and technological properties.