Zimbabwe: Address Chaos At Tobacco Floors

Source from:  The Herald 04/15/2010

Harare - THE chaos at the tobacco auction floors since the start of the current selling season needs urgent redress. Reports of farmers spending days in queues and corrupt dealings that disenfranchise the farmer should prompt the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board and such farmer organisations as the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union to move in to restore order. It is unfortunate that news of high prices of up to US$5 per kilogramme obtaining at the floors since the start of the selling season is being overshadowed by the challenges emanating from there. A deeper analysis of the situation at the floors shows that a lot has gone wrong in the entire process right from delivery, weighing of bales to the trading itself. The haphazard delivery and sale of the crop and attendant problems should have been anticipated by the authorities a few seasons ago and measures should by now have been put in place to encourage proper trading, but this has not happened. The powers that be should rescue the situation before it worsens. Tobacco is potentially Zimbabwe's single largest foreign currency earner and a significant contributor to national income accounting for 26 percent of GDP in 2009. These statistics speak volumes of tobacco's strategic importance in the economy hence the need to urgently attend to the challenges bedevilling the sector. Of course, a number of the challenges stem from the fact that thousands of small-scale farmers have ventured into the lucrative crop, thus overstretching existing facilities. Ideally, this is as it should be as the land reform programme is bearing fruit. Poor management of the auctioning process is inimical to the empowerment drive. New systems need to be put in place to adapt to the growing number of tobacco growers. We now have thousands of growers where only a few hundred farmers grew tobacco hence the need to match the increasing numbers with an improved modus operandi. For instance, we have noticed an untenable situation at the floors where there is only one weighing bridge for all growers resulting in long, slow moving queues that farmers have had to endure. Some officials at the floors have also succumbed to corruption amid reports that they are taking bribes to overstate the weight of the bales in exchange for part of the proceeds while some growers pay their way to the front of the queue, worsening the chaotic situation that has already become an eyesore. Furthermore, some farmers deliver their bales without prior booking, as should be the case to allow orderly deliveries and sales. This greed or seeming impatience needs to be dealt with decisively. "No booking, no sale" should be the guiding principle but the "oiling of hands" through kickbacks seems to be carrying the day. The farmers need to be disciplined to avoid the unnecessary stress and extra expenses they have had to incur due to overcrowding. It is in such instances that farmer organisations should train and counsel their constituencies on business ethics. At the end of the day the farmers are shooting themselves in the foot. They will not fully enjoy the benefits because they lose money through the payment of bribes and boarding facilities as they await their turn to sell their tobacco. Doing things the right way always has a way of paying off. Of course, the closure of the third auction floor -- BMZ -- last year partly explains the overcrowding but this should have also been anticipated and a proper booking formula development before the current selling season. We had all applauded the early opening of the floors but maybe TIMB and others stakeholders bit more than they could chew. The tobacco auction system has really been overwhelmed by developments over the past few years but there are ways of handling challenges before they manifest in the manner they have at the floors. We also do not rule out some acts of sabotage, now that more beneficiaries of land reform resort to tobacco farming. Someone out there may be deliberately manipulating the system to give the impression that the new entrants have brought more chaos than value. More than 21 000 tobacco growers were registered this year and statistics indicate that 80 million kg will go under the hammer up from 55 million kg last year. These figures bode well for Zimbabwe and every effort should be made to ensure the economy does not lose out on the improving output. Enditem