Zimbabwe: Price Stagnation Irks Tobacco Growers

Source from:  The Herald  04/03/2013

Tobacco growers have expressed worry over the stagnation of prices which has seen the highest price failing to go beyond US$5 since the marketing season started in February.
 
The highest price has so far remained at US$4,99 at the auction floors while the contract floors have since recorded a high of US$5,70 per kilogramme.
 
This has left many farmers believing that there was a cartel of buyers conniving to maintain a price ceiling similar to what happened last season when US$4,99 was the highest price at the auction floors throughout the season.
 
Most farmers said this was a deliberate move by buyers to force farmers to sell their crop through the contract floors.
 
Raffingora farmer Mr Tobias Chidawanyika said on one occasion he threatened to withdraw his crop from the floors because of the low prices.
 
"I understand the issue of quality and I had a good crop only to get the same price I got when I sold the primings. The buyers are somehow biased towards the crop from the contract floors. Had it been at the contract floors I believe it should have fetched a higher price," complained the farmer.
 
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Mr Wonder Chabikwa said it was disturbing that since last season buyers had refused to increase the highest price at the auction floors to above US$5 per kg.
 
"Buyers have obviously formed a cartel and we are soon going to engage the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board together with buyers and other stakeholders to address the concern," he said.
 
Mr Chabikwa said before the opening of the tobacco selling season in February, farmers unions discussed the price issue with auction floors although this has not yielded any results.
 
"Buyers should be professional and leave the law of demand and supply to prevail," he said.
 
The Zimbabwe Indigenous Women Farmers Association president Mrs Depinah Nkomo concurred with Mr Chabikwa. She said the issue of pricing was affecting farmers especially women who were the chief producers of the crop.
 
"Women farmers work very hard and should be rewarded accordingly despite the fact that one is selling at auction or contract floor. Tobacco can be highly rewarding but there should be fairness in terms of prices offered by buyers," she said.
 
At the opening of the selling season, the TIMB expressed concern over the differences in prices being offered by buyers at the auction and contract floors and expected an improvement this season.
 
There are 77 064 registered tobacco growers with 82 percent of them coming from the A1 and communal sectors. Enditem