Zimbabwe: Burley Growers Stranded At Auction Floors

Source from:  The Herald 07/29/2011

OVER 1 000 burley tobacco growers have been stranded since June 22 at Boka Tobacco Auction Floors after the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board failed to secure buyers for their crop. The auction floors have offered to accommodate the farmers and 3 000 bales as a goodwill gesture. TIMB chief executive Dr Andrew Matibiri yesterday confirmed that his organisation was struggling to secure a buyer. "There is a bank we have been negotiating with to fund Boka so that it buys the tobacco. The bank and other concerned parties are holding their final meeting today (yesterday) so they will advise us of the outcome," said Dr Matibiri. Burley is light to brown-coloured air-cured tobacco used primarily for cigarette production and is also used in many aromatic blends, because it absorbs the flavourings. It burns slowly and has a cool smoke that makes it popular with smokers. Some of the affected farmers said their ordeal started when they failed to get payments on June 26 as had been promised. "TIMB told us that money for our payments had not been released to the bank and gave each one of us US$10 as bus fare to go back home and return on July 18 so that we would get paid the following day," Dotito farmer Mr James Kambirienda said. Mr Kambirienda, who has so far brought his first six bales, said on July 19 TIMB once again told them that the cash was not yet ready and offered to give the farmers US$20 each to return to their homes. "This was the point at which the majority refused to go back saying they would wait until their produce had been bought. Going back would have meant more expenses and the majority would not have been able to come back," he said. Maria Nyamudetsa from Nyamaropa, Nyanga, said she could not return home empty-handed. "How am I going to face the transporter who brought my tobacco here? My neighbour just phoned to say my children were sent home from school so I desperately need the cash. "Maybe, TIMB could help the situation by giving each farmer an advance of US$250 so that we go home to attend to pertinent issues and return when there is something in place," she said. Mr Raphael Mareya of Honde Valley said TIMB had called him four times, but did not give him anything. "The situation is affecting our preparations for next season. We are stuck here while others are already making their seedbeds and preparing the land. If the money had been made available on time, it could have helped us a lot. "We agreed with TIMB that we would sell our produce at nothing less than US$1,80 per kilogramme for the lowest grade and anything above US$4 for the highest quality," he said. He said their situation was deplorable as they were sleeping in a hall without blankets and were failing to raise money for meals. "Sometimes you see as many as 10 people sharing a plate of sadza. Look, there are also pregnant women here who can deliver at any time so TIMB should speedily do something," he said. Cigarette manufacturers BAT and Savannah used to buy burley tobacco over the years, but this year they opted out, leaving the farmers without a confirmed buyer. TIMB is alleged to have indicated that it had secured a buyer from Malawi, but nothing seems to have come out of the deal. "Maybe the buyer decided to buy from his country where the same product is selling at an average price of US$0,89 per kilogramme," said an official with Boka, who declined to be identified. Unlike Virginia tobacco, which is on demand the world over for its blending effect, Burley is less favoured by buyers. Even Malawi, which is one of the biggest producers of Burley, has had a slump in prices that also affected farmers. Meanwhile, over 547 500g of flue-cured tobacco seed, translating to 91 000 hectares, has been sold to farmers so far, as preparations for the 2011-12 tobacco season continue. Information from TIMB shows that so far, seed equivalent to 91 255 ha of flue-cured tobacco had been sold by July 15 compared to 82,1 ha sold by August 16 last year. However, there has been a 92 percent decrease in burley tobacco seed sales. The Tobacco Research Board has sold 20g of burley tobacco seed while the Zimbabwe Tobacco Seed Association has sold 80g, which can plant only 16,2 ha. Last season, by August 16, 1 290g of burley tobacco enough to plant 215 ha had been sold. The decrease in burley tobacco seed sales has been attributed to inaccessible markets. A number of farmers who grew burley tobacco during the 2010-2011 summer season are still struggling to sell their crop. Most traditional burley growers are now shifting to flue-cured tobacco. There has been an increase in the number of tobacco growers each season with 65 993 having registered to grow the crop next season. Of these, 18 239 are registering to grow tobacco for the first time. The tobacco industry has been growing although there are still some challenges being faced by farmers. Zimbabwe Farmers Union director Mr Paul Zakariya said Government and relevant authorities should recognise the increase in the number of tobacco growers and ensure resources are available to meet their needs. This includes funding and marketing. "Tobacco has been attracting more and more people and there has to be an improvement in the marketing of the crop if the business is to remain viable. "With the summer season just around, there has to be a plan from Government, the private sector on funding of tobacco growers or else we will go back to the same problems of late availability of funds from banks and chaos at the auction floors," he said. On contract farming, Mr Zakariya said it was vital that farmers seek advice from their unions before signing agreements. Enditem