1,500 Tobacco Bales Rejected

Source from:  by Taonga Sabola, 28 June 2006 - 11:29:00  06/30/2006

It never rains but pours for tobacco farmers in the country. At a time when they are fighting for better prices from buyers, a group of tobacco growers had the shock of their lives on Monday this week when their 1,500 bales were thrown out of Limbe Auction Floors after being re-offered four times. Authorities plainly told the growers to get their leaf and find something to do with it because buyers failed to attach a price to it. The growers were visibly at a loss on where they could sell their leaf next. "We have been preparing this leaf for about a year and this is all we can get at the end of the day? This is an insult to us. Even the authorities seem not to care," said John Magalasi, a grower from Thondwe in Zomba. Another grower, Jimmy Sadulo from Phalombe, said it was painful to see his quality tobacco being thrown out when other farmers' tobacco whose quality was far below his was bought. Tobacco Association of Malawi (Tama) Councillor for Mangochi Dennis Dias said since the Limbe Auction Floors opened, the market has thrown out over 1,500 bales. "This is a very big blow to the farmers as it means they will not get anything from their toil. This will definitely have an impact on next year's crop production levels," said Dias. Huge volumes of tobacco have been returned on a daily basis to be re-offered due to price problems between the buyers and growers. The leaf has also been sent back due to what is described as unsatisfactory quality. Richard Chinthunzi, Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) Regional Manager for the South, said in an interview yesterday that after three or four times of re-offer there was nothing they could do about the concerned tobacco but to give it to the owners. "The growers have to decide what to do with the tobacco. Of course it's a loss to them but there is nothing we can do about it," said Chimthuzi. He, however, admitted that the number of rejected bales have grown significantly since government set minimum buying prices for tobacco. Since President Bingu wa Mutharika announced minimum buying prices for tobacco in March this year, prices have been far from impressive with buyers opting for less. A cumulative average of 85 US cents per kilogramme when the minimum price for poor quality tobacco was supposed to fetch US$1.10 sums up the troubles that have rocked the industry. Enditem