Maravi

(ZIMPAPERS) New dawn for tobacco farmers

New dawn for tobacco farmers
Saturday, 19 February 2011 22:40 Agriculture
By Lovemore Chikova

TSF managing director Mr James Mutambanesango inspects tobacco bales on the first day of the selling season.

THE 2011 tobacco selling season kicked off last week with auction floors being strict on procedures that are expected to transform transactions for the better. But the emphasis on the procedures seems to have upset farmers, some of whom have been caught unawares and end up spending many days at the auction floors.

The Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF) will accept tobacco only from farmers who would have registered with the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) as growers before they bring their crop to the market.

The farmers would be expected to have submitted estimates before the selling season started and are supposed to book their tobacco for sale before delivering it.

Some farmers said last week that the information about the rules had not reached them before they came to the auction floor.

A Shamva farmer, Mr Mapepa Chari, who had brought his crop to the TSF, said he was stunned to be told by authorities that he could not deliver before following the procedure.

“I have no choice but to leave my crop outside the auction floor so that I can go and register with the TIMB,” he said.

“This will mean an extra day while I am here because I cannot take the tobacco back to Shamva as I will not afford the huge transport costs.”

Mr Chari said not all farmers were informed about the rules, which have a huge bearing on whether or not their tobacco would be auctioned.

But he welcomed the price of US$4,20 per kg on the opening day, which he hoped would continue to firm.

Most farmers who sold their crop on the first day on Wednesday last week also commended the “high” price.

They are hopeful that it will go up as the quality of the tobacco delivered improves with time.

Farmers are bringing in leaves from the bottom of the tobacco plant, which are generally considered to be of low quality.

Very soon they will be harvesting leaves from the middle of the plant, which are of better quality. But the best leaves are those at the top of the plant which are normally brought in at the end of the season.

It is the quality of the tobacco leaf that essentially determines the price.
Another farmer, Mr Esau Gaza, said as a new entrant in tobacco farming, he lacked enough information about how to market the crop.

“This is my first time to bring tobacco to the auction floor and I did not know where to get the information,” he said.

“Since I have heard about the issue, I will follow the procedure so that I am able to sell the tobacco.”

On the first day of the auction, all the 1 500 registered bales had been delivered at the TSF, with the sales going on smoothly.

The second auction floor, the Boka Tobacco Floor (BTF), was expected to open a few days later as there were some renovations and refurbishments going on. Farmers are expected to have a wider choice once the BTF opens.

TSF managing director Mr James Mutambane-sango said they were optimistic the season would run smoothly.

He said the decentralisation of the registration of the tobacco growers would enable more farmers to smoothly bring tobacco for auction.

“We expected the delivery of tobacco to firm,” said Mr Mutambanesango.
“The prices have started on a high note and they may improve as the season progresses.”

Mr Mutambanesango said farmers who did not follow procedures always had problems at the auction floors.

“The marketing process should be orderly,” he said.

“As TSL we are decentralising to ensure that our staff is able to communicate with all farmers on what is required. The future of the season is very bright and we are more than ready to handle more tobacco.”

There were problems last year when there were high prices at the start of the selling season, but they suddenly fell, much to the chagrin of the farmers.

Analysts say the problem was caused by the fact that some farmers did not submit estimates of their harvest before the selling season started.

Merchants had budgeted for the declared 77 million kilograms, only to discover along the line that there was more tobacco coming.

The season ended up recording 123 million kilograms worth US$347,8 million.
After the 77 million kilograms were sold, the prices had to go down as merchants failed to get new lines of credit to mop up the reminder.

It is estimated this year that more than 150 million kilograms of the golden leaf will pass through the auction floors, with a potential of raising nearly US$400 million.

At least 60 percent of the crop is expected to be sold under contract, with the reminder being sold under individual sales.

A new development for this season is that the tobacco will be sold without local companies graded as Class B buyers.

The Class B buyers were suspended after it was discovered that they connived with Class A buyers last year to ensure the farmers sold tobacco at lower prices.

Class A buyers are international companies that usually buy the tobacco for export.
Class B buyers would influence Class A buyers to reject the tobacco for different reasons.

The Class B buyers would then buy the tobacco, which they would re-sell to Class A buyers at a profit.

The local buyers were accused of bringing chaos to the marketing season because of their actions. TIMB chief executive officer Dr Andrew Matibiri said the local buyers were short-changing growers.

“The Class B buyers will not be operating for the 2011 selling season after taking into account the views of the farmers and those of the stakeholders,” he said.
The farmers welcomed the dismissal of the local buyers and hoped that the selling season will proceed without a hitch.

Some of the farmers said they had since changed their behaviour after they were accused of being reckless with their social lives in the past.

A number of farmers in the past lost their cash to thieves after they moved around with large sums of money. Others engaged prostitutes who ended up stealing from them after they got drunk.

“I think most of the farmers have learnt their lessons,” said a farmer from Mvurwi, Mr Benedict Svota.

“This time around, the farmers are prepared to bank their money as they are now aware that robbers will take advantage of them.”

Areas around the tobacco auction floors are expected to explode into life as service providers throng them to sell wares to the farmers.

But many are hopeful that the golden leaf’s glitter would be restored as sanity returns to the marketing season.

Zimbabwe is among the top tobacco producing countries that include Brazil and Malawi.
The country is expected to do well in the tobacco growing industry as more small-scale farmers turn to the crop, after being empowered by the land reform programme.

- The Sunday Mail

Labels: TOBACCO

posted by MrK @ 8:13 PM