ZIMBABWE : Tobacco Growers Call for Export Retention Scheme

Source from:  May 8, 2006, Sunday Mail By Andnetwork .com  05/09/2006

Tobacco growers have called on the Government to allow growers to retain some foreign currency earned through tobacco sales to enable them to import key inputs on time. Growers said a foreign currency retention scheme should be introduced for them, adding that other exporters were enjoying the same facility. "We grow an export crop yet it is difficult for us to access foreign currency to buy inputs or equipment. Tobacco growers have to apply for foreign currency just like any other ordinary person and yet other exporters are allowed to retain some of the foreign currency they earn so that they buy whatever is necessary for their industries without having to go through hassles,'' said one grower, Simon Chinobvei of Mvurwi. He said if growers were left with a certain percentage of the forex earned, the procurement of inputs and equipment would be faster, enhancing chances of bumper harvests. Responding to accusations by the Reserve Bank Governor, Dr Gideon Gono, that growers were out to make super profits by demanding both high prices for their crop and generous subsidies, Tobacco Growers' Trust (TGT) chairman Mr Wilfanos Mashingaidze said there was need to look at farmers' problems objectively if the industry was to remain viable. He said farmers were experiencing genuine problems and needed assistance from all stakeholders for them to produce a quality crop. A foreign currency retention scheme was also necessary for farmers' operations to proceed smoothly. "There was the 15 percent forex retention scheme of last year under which growers were expected to access money, but this did not happen. "Instead, farmers were made to fill in forms indicating what they required for their next season, but nothing came out of it,'' said Mr Mashingaidze. An official from the central bank said in a telephone interview the best person to answer on the 15 percent retention scheme was Dr Gono. "There are certain things we cannot comment on, which need the governor himself,'' he said. Dr Gono could not be reached for comment as he was said to out of his office on Friday afternoon. Indigenous Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe (ICFU) president Mr Davison Mugabe said not every farmer was accessing subsidised inputs, adding that there was need to support growers to ensure maximum production. "Serious farmers have no time to wait for subsidised inputs. They use their own money," said Mr Mugabe. Mr Mugabe said for the tobacco industry to expand, there was need for prices that would make tobacco growing very lucrative as tobacco was to Zimbabwe what oil was to the Nigerian economy. He said subsidies were not bad in agriculture as agriculture survived on State funding the world over. "In Switzerland, for example, 93 percent of farm income comes from subsidies. Before a farmer produces anything, he or she is entitled to 93 percent earnings and yet in Zimbabwe we are complaining that the Government has poured too much into the sector,'' he said. "White farmers did not become what they are over five years. They developed themselves over 100 years through State funding. There is no land reform programme which is short term. It is too early to start saying our farmers are 'crybabies','' he said. He said facilities on the farms left by the former white commercial farmers were built through State funds with the farmers accessing loans at concessionary rates for generations. "The tobacco barns you see on the farms, those fenced farms, electricity and even telephones were installed on those farms through State funds, not by an individual farmer," he said. Meanwhile, the Soya Beans Commodity Association co-odinator, Ms Elizabeth Musimwa, has announced new prices of soya beans. Farmers who financed themselves will earn $100 million per tonne while those who got inputs will earn $60 million per tonne. Enditem