Zambia: Eastern Province Tobacco Farmers in Stand Off

Source from:  Zambia Reports 06/15/2015

There is a stand-off between peasant farmers and tobacco buyers in Eastern province after commercial buyers of cotton announced their decision to stop purchases of the crop from the locals.

The affected farmers are planning to stage a major protest at government offices because they cannot afford to keep the crop, which was cultivated at a huge cost.

The Zambia Leaf Tobacco (ZAMLEAF) Company announced that it had stopped buying cotton from independent, a decision that has left scores of peasant stranded with their crop.

Eastern Fodya Association of Zambia (EFAZ) Chief Franklin Mwale said from Chipata that ZAMLEAF had stopped buying tobacco from independent and sponsored farmers in the region.

Mwale said initially, the Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ) had alerted EFAZ that the company was going to purchase the tobacco from the sponsored farmers moving on to buy the crop independent farmers.

He said the move to stop buying the crop was causing a lot of anxiety peasant farmers because scores of farmers were stranded with their tobacco.

Mwale said the Government must intervene immediately to save the situation from turning violent because farmers in eastern province were still recovering from a lot of fluctuations in the supply and purchase of farming implements in the area.

In 2012, the was a lot of acrimony among small scale out-grower farmers who engaged in violent protests against the decision by commercial cotton buyers to cut the purchase price of the commodity.

The irate farmers burnt tonnes of raw cotton that was gathered by commercial buyers after the out-grower schemes owners cut the purchase price by over 50 percent.

"Tobacco Board of Zambia had written to EFAZ saying the companies are going to buy tobacco from the sponsored farmers and thereafter moved to independent farmers recently. But to our shock, ZAMLEAF has stopped buying the tobacco and this has left farmers who had invested a lot of money in their yields stranded," he said.

Mwale said his organization was compiling a comprehensive list of affected farmers in order to have a register of people who were stranded with tobacco.

One of the affected farmers Mwase Phiri interview from Chipata said the government must intervene and ensure that the commercial tobacco buyers do not stop buying the crop.

Phiri said peasant farmers in eastern province were very dissatisfied with the current happenings in the agriculture sector because farmers were receiving a raw deal.

"It is only in 2012 when we were fighting with these out-grower schemes who had cut the price of cotton and the government did very little to help us. Today, we are back at the same problem just that it is cotton we are dealing with. We want the government to have a clear policy on agriculture that will protect peasant and small scale farmers unlike the current situation where any out-grower scheme can come and exploit farmers," he said.

He said it was disheartening that most of the farmers were currently stranded because of not happy with the cotton prices which was determined at international market.

Agriculture and Livestock Deputy Minister Maxas Ng'onga the condition between the farmers in eastern province and the tobacco buyers was perilous.

Ng'onga said the government would engage the Zambia Leaf Tobacco Company and ZAMLEAF to find ways of resolving the matter. Enditem