Zimbabwe: Regulate Tobacco Marketing - Parly

Source from:  Financial Gazette(Harare) 06/28/2011

Parliament has recommended the introduction of an effective legislative framework to govern tobacco marketing and protect the farmer from fluctuating auction prices. In a report tabled in Parliament last week by the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Lands, Water and Resettlement, suggestions were made that government should protect tobacco farmers from fluctuating prices by instituting a pricing regime that stipulates the minimum amount payable to farmers under any circumstances. The Committee's report on the operations of Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), chaired by Moses Jiri indicated the need to regulate the tobacco sector as it is badly affected by disorder and chaos. "It is undisputable that agriculture is of significant importance to our economy and it is through an effective legislative framework that a conducive environment can be provided for our farmers to be viable," reads the report. "The 2011 tobacco selling season was seriously congested creating a critical situation and dangers of disease outbreaks which caused a general outcry on the need for sanity to prevail at the floors. Therefore, tobacco marketing regulations should be applied effectively through a coordinated and multi-sectoral approach." As part of the recommendations the TIMB was advised to partner several stakeholders such as Agritex and the Tobacco Growers Association in informing tobacco growers on the necessity of registration, submission of production estimates so that resources can be found and apportioned appropriately, as well as the need to book tobacco before delivery. To protect the interests of the farmers, Parliament also suggested that TIMB to broaden the scope of its decentralisation exercise to the setting up of tobacco auction floors in the districts which have high tobacco production. Last year, TIMB conducted a feasibility study on the decentralisation of tobacco marketing to the 15 major tobacco producing districts of the country to ensure that there was no congestion at the auction floors occasioned by the ever increasing number of growers. The feasibility study however showed that comprehensive decentralisation would impact negatively on the farmers as auctioneers were more inclined to form a cartel with buyers resulting in lower prices. It was then established that the system could only work when there is a tobacco pricing model that stipulates a minimum cash payable to farmers as a way of protecting them. "TIMB must expand the existing tobacco auctioning infrastructure to carter for the ever expanding number of farmers by inviting more players into tobacco auctioning." Auction floors should ease congestion by only accepting tobacco that has had prior booking and must expand their existing ablution facilities to levels where they can carter for eventualities," said the report. The Committee urged the Board to ensure that all transporters are registered with the institution and only transport tobacco booked for sale and to further engage either the police or municipal authorities to ensure that vendors and hawkers are ejected from the vicinity of the auction floors. When the Committee toured the auction floors, they observed that there were thousands of people both inside and outside the perimeters of the auction floors, most of whom were farmers awaiting the sale of their crop, while a sizeable number consisted of hawkers and vendors. The sanitary and ablution conditions at the floors where a total disaster, making the place a health threat while the security of farmers was gravely compromised by the heavy presence of vendors and hawkers, most of whom are referred to in the report as "unscrupulous." The Committees' first hand evaluation of the situation at the sales floors gave them a chance to observe the abnormally longer and haphazard queues at Tobacco Sales Floor, a situation made worse by several lorries and trucks bearing police and military plates which were bypassing the queues. "Most farmers interviewed complained about certain tendencies at the floors which resulted in some transporters delivering their tobacco ahead of earlier trucks upon payment of a US$40 bribe," reads the report. Parliament recommended the need for urgent intervention by government to protect the interests of tobacco farmers. Enditem