Zimbabwe: Farmers Fret over Tobacco Levy Delays

Source from:  Chronicle 12/10/2015

Tobacco growers are concerned about the delays by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board in disbursing the $7 million collected as tobacco levy during the 2015 selling season.

The farmers complained that they complied with the law but the TIMB was taking long to update them on the progress of the funds.

With effect from January 1, 2015, the government re-introduced a 1,5 percent tobacco levy on sales by growers last year to finance re-forestation activities.

The tobacco levy was scrapped in March 2005 to encourage smallholder farmers to produce the crop.

Since January 2015, TIMB charged the levy on tobacco growers at a rate of $0,015 of each dollar of the selling price.

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president, Wonder Chabikwa said unions had made plans to utilise the funds and were waiting for the disbursement.

"We were told that the funds could be used for afforestation activities. There is need to train farmers and plant trees to curb deforestation.

"Soon we will be going into another marketing season where farmers will have their money deducted towards the levy and they won't understand it," he said. Enditem