Mozambique: Tobacco Company Sues Peasants

Source from:  Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo) July 19, 2006 07/20/2006

The Mozambique Leaf Tobacco (MLT) company has threatened to drag 130 peasant farmers through the court for failing to repay loans, reports Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias". MLT, which is a subsidiary of the US-based Universal Leaf Africa Company, provides agricultural inputs, such as seeds and fertiliser, to peasant farmers on credit. MLT then buys the tobacco crop, and from the proceeds of the sale the farmers are supposed to repay the credit. But according to Alberto Tomas, director of MLT in Macanga district, in the western province of Tete, about 130 producers in the district have failed to repay. "Many farmers went on picking up the inputs, but ceased to comply with their obligations", said Tomas. "The sums owing have risen, season after season, and the debt is now about 36 million new meticais (1.4 million US dollars)". Tomas said the company has submitted a complaint to the Macanga District Court, where the case will come to trial. The farmers, however, accuse MLT staff of dishonesty in the classification of tobacco. They claim that their tobacco is classed as poor quality, and this means they do not earn enough money to pay off their debts. "We face serious problems with MLT staff in classifying our tobacco", they allege. "All the tobacco is classed as third grade, the bottom category, which they buy for seven to eight meticais a kilo. This is not fair - we are producing large amounts of first grade tobacco and each kilo of that should cost 39 meticais. Because of this procedure, we are unable to pay our debts for fertiliser and seeds". Enditem