Zimbabwe: Good Times for Tobacco Farmers

Source from:  The Herald 05/15/2009

THE good times are rolling again for farmers after the tobacco season started last week. Under the current system farmers are being paid US$1 500 in cash payouts while the remainder of their proceeds are being deposited in their Foreign Currency Accounts. While it's all very well, this is a very precarious period for the farmers as it can make or break them, depending on their spending priorities or how they safeguard their produce. I understand there was a raging debate on the amount of money that should be paid out to the farmers in cash, with some stakeholders holding the view that farmers should get at least US$500, judging by their conduct in previous seasons. Some farmers, especially men, have been known to squander the proceeds from their sales. They have been known, for instance, to marry second or third wives, or "living it up", booking themselves into the most expensive suites in the most expensive five-star hotels -- till they are down to their bottom dollar. Others squander the proceeds on luxuries that have nothing to do with farming. This week, I wish to dwell on that subject: what the wise farmers should do with the windfall from the sale of their produce. For one thing, farmers should consider the costs and expenses or debts incurred in producing the crop. For another they will need to pay back loans, pay the workers and buy inputs such as fertilizers, chemicals, seed and farm machinery, from the proceeds of the sales. Tobacco growers should remember the Government removed subsidies on inputs; they should budget their income carefully, so they don't find there is not enough for them to buy inputs for the next season. The first port of call for every farmer should be the fertilizer, chemical and seed outlets because they constitute the basis for their livelihood. Farmers should buy from reputable retailers, rather than rely on the parallel market. Recently, growers were swindled by conmen selling sand packaged in fertilizer bags. There are several disadvantages in buying goods from illegal traders. It is also not wise for farmers to move around with huge sums of money because they can be mugged and lose it all. I believe this is an area in which farmers' organisations have been failing their members. It is time for the farmers' unions to engage suppliers to ensure they are adequately represented at the floors during the sales. Farmers should not endure the inconvenience of having to move around with large sums of money. If suppliers are stationed at the floors, farmers could make their purchases at the floors and then obtain receipts, which they would use to collect their produce from the suppliers' depots. I believe farmers' unions should station their personnel on the floors to offer farmers sound advice on where to go for vital purchases. Farmers have raised concern about transport costs; I believe unions could assist them by organising the farmers into groups and arranging with transporters to offer special rates to ferry the tobacco to the auction floors. Farmers' unions should come to the forefront because their main responsibility, first and foremost, is to serve the farmer and this is one area that has not been effective. Kudos to the auction floors for having made adequate provisions for farmers. Security was tight during the official opening, with several armed police officers manning the floors to protect the farmers. The auction floors made prior arrangements for canteen services from which farmers could buy their food. This is commendable in view of the cholera outbreak. Also commendable was that formal and informal traders allowed to sell their wares at the floors were warned to exercise great restraint in terms of pricing. This is a departure from previous seasons when they tended to hike prices to exploit the farmers. Tobacco farmers, like others in their business, have been gullible on prices, often agreeing to buy products at any price because they feel they need it. Farmers should learn to shop around and compare prices to avoid swindles. Apart from input procurement and giving sound advice, farmers' unions have a host of other areas where they are not being effective. I witnessed the official opening last week and was concerned that some growers had not opened FCAs and were not aware of how they were going to be paid. But the call had been made in time for farmers to open FCAs. Why did the message not get to them in time? Another tobacco grower was not aware of the price of fertilizer. She was hoping her crop would fetch a high price so that she could afford fertilizer. She expected to buy inputs on the parallel market. She had heard the commodity was selling for US$60 per 50kg bag. If somebody was to sell the same amount at any price a little lower than that, obviously the farmer was going to buy it with confidence. But the newspapers had carried articles on the reduction of fertilizer prices, with some companies advertising that they had the commodity in stock, inviting farmers to buy. This shows the need for farmers to be kept up to date with whatever is happening around them. Information dissemination is still not efficient to most small-scale farmers. Relevant authorities should make newspapers and magazines available at the farming areas while radios and TV sets have better transmissions for the efficient transmission of information. Occasional meetings are also another way of informing farmers. They can always meet and discuss issues affecting them to enlighten each other on events around them. I wish the tobacco growers a bountiful selling season and hope there will be no reports of people committing suicide as a result of misunderstandings over the spending of profits. Enditem