Five Percent Bonus for Ugandan Farmers

Source from:  tobaccoreporter.com Uganda, Friday, January 12, 2007 01/16/2007

British American Tobacco Uganda (BATU) has announced a 5 percent bonus to farmers for tobacco grown in the 2007 season, reports The Monitor of Kampala. Earlier, the company announcing increased pre-planting prices for the 2007 tobacco crop. BATU's new Leaf Director, Serhat Eroglu, said in a statement that the 5 percent bonus is for all farmers who grow and sell up to 30 percent more than their full contracted volumes. "This is a direct benefit from the reorganization we conducted at the end of 2006 to achieve greater efficiencies. In fulfillment of our promise, these benefits and more will be shared with our valued farmers," Eroglu said. However, Eroglu said farmers have to repay their interest-free loans in full before qualifying for the bonus. The bonus is part of BATU's efforts to increase Uganda's annual tobacco production to 25 million kg in the medium term. Enditem