Zimbabwe, Africa’s largest tobacco producer, began its annual tobacco-selling season on Wednesday, with officials and farmers projecting a sharp decline in harvests and quality because of a drought blamed on climate change and worsened by El Niño. From a record harvest of 296 million kilograms (326,000 tons) last year, the country is estimating that production will fall to about 235 million kilograms (259,000 tons) this season, says Patrick Devenish, chairman of the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB), at the official opening event in the capital, Harare. “Most of our tobacco is grown by s…