Zimbabwe: Tobacco Farmers Contracted to Saltlakes Stranded

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) 25 May 2007 05/28/2007

TOBACCO farmers contracted to Saltlakes Holdings were yesterday stranded at the Tobacco Sales Floors for the third day in a row after the company failed to book their crop for sale following delays in registration. According to some farmers, the delay has denied them access to critical information such as the grower's number, proof of field and tobacco estimate forms that must be forwarded to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board. The information is then logged into the networks of the auction floors before a farmer is allowed to sell his or her crop. The problem has, however, since been rectified. "We came here on Tuesday and until now we are still to sell our tobacco. This is despite the fact that some farmers who came after us have had their tobacco sold," said a farmer from Nyama Resettlement Area in Karoi. Another said: "I have a ticket to confirm that my tobacco was accepted and has been booked for sale here by 11am today (yesterday), but cannot locate my bales. This has been going on for the past two days, but there is no solution in place yet." Saltlakes sales and marketing manager Mr Stan Matare said the company was moving to rectify the hiccups. "There have been slight delays to bookings for some farmers, but the problem is being attended to. Right now, I am running around to make sure that all farmers sell their crop before end of business (yesterday). "We suspect the problem arises from the fact that we are a new organisation, but we hope things will go according to plan in the future. We believe these are little things that require everyone's co-operation. Saltlakes will soon be meeting officials from both TSF and TIMB to iron out these slight problems," he said. He, however, said his company had not encountered any problems with side marketing but did not rule out such a possibility Tobacco Sales Floor operations manager Mr Lodwin Gatsi said the problem had been worsened by the fact that his company's computer network which links it with TIMB was on the blink. "I understand that there has been a slight delay in booking for sale farmers contracted to Saltlakes because some of the farmers had not completed the requisite paperwork like the estimate forms, without which they cannot be booked for sale. This has been exacerbated by some network problems that were encountered in the past few days, but this has since been rectified," he said. To guard against side marketing TIMB makes it compulsory for farmers to furnish the tobacco body with proof of land ownership, grower number and an estimate mass of the "golden leaf" he or she is likely to produce before one can sell. "This is common for new contract farmers as they are not well versed with requirements of the tobacco industry, but it can be solved with time. Otherwise I can tell you that the quality and the general condition of the crop this year have been very good," he said. He said the price of the crop and the support prices offered by Government had been encouraging and expressed hope this would spur farmers to increase their tobacco hectarage next season. Enditem