Zimbabwe: 2013 Tobacco Selling Season Closes

Source from:  The Herald  07/09/2013

The curtain came down on the 2013 flue-cured tobacco selling season last week with nearly US$190 million going into the pockets of farmers.

With more than 82 percent of growers being small-scale who benefited from land reform, there has been tremendous transformation in the communal and small-scale farming areas as farmers reaped the fruits of tobacco production. Farmers across all sectors have largely been economically empowered as more and more abandoned the less lucrative crops for tobacco.

The standard of living for many farmers in the A2, A1, communal and small-scale sectors has improved dramatically as they have mobilised most of their resources to grow tobacco.

Most farmers testified that their lives have been transformed through tobacco production as they have been able to buy assets they only dreamed of before land reform.

Hurungwe farmer Mrs Eugenia Ndoro said she had managed to send her children to decent schools.

"I have upgraded my life. Now I live in a decent house and my children are going to decent schools. I am now aiming at buying farming machinery next season," she said.

Chikomba farmer Mr Fredrick Mugwagwa said he had expanded his herd of cattle. "I have bought several cattle and tobacco production has become my mainstay. I support other projects using proceeds from tobacco," he said. A number of farmers have bought cars, tractors, grinding mills, furniture and inputs.

More than 158 million kg were sold at the close of the auction floors against a target of 170 million kg.

This, was, however, an increase from the 144 million kg sold the same period last year.

TIMB chief executive Dr Andrew Matibiri said the target of 170 million kg would not be reviewed downwards since contract sales were continuing.

"Tobacco deliveries are still coming through the contract so we cannot review the target downwards".

However, farmers noted with concern the price ceiling of US$4,99 per kg, which prevailed throughout the season. Many farmers complained that the highest price could not be pegged at US$4,99 per kg for two consecutive seasons.

Mrs Winnet Chihota said there were challenges with the processing of cheques, a situation that forced farmers to stay longer at the auction floors.

Contract farmer Mr Lazarus Tenga of Matepatepa said he was let down by a contractor who breached their agreement.

"The contractor did not give us enough inputs that we had agreed on paper and we ended up supplementing with our own resources.

"Contractors should stick to the contractual agreements and provide enough inputs," he said.

Other farmers applauded the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board for the improvement in services, accommodations and payment systems at the auction floors.

The farmers said they were satisfied with the ablution facilities, water and accommodation provided at the floors.

Boka Tobacco Floors operations manager, Mr Moses Bias said the season was good in that prices were firm and farmers had realised the importance of improving the quality of tobacco to get good prices.

He said the floors continued to have problems with farmers who brought their crop to the auction floors without booking and this created congestion.

"We would like the TIMB to assist auction floors with the issue of booking to reduce congestion," he said.

Some farmers were however not aware of the closing date and were delivering their crop while others said they still had some tobacco at their farms.

Tobacco farming has been on the increase each season due to the orderly marketing and favourable prices being offered by buyers.

In 2012, agriculture grew by 4, 6 percent, with tobacco being the main crop behind this growth.

The crop accounted for 10,7 percent of the GDP in 2012 and constituted 21,8 percent of all total exports, compared to 9,2 percent for other agriculture commodities.

This compares favourably with the 61,8 percent contribution by all minerals combined. Enditem