Maravi

Tobacco farmers in Mumbwa fear exploitation

Tobacco farmers in Mumbwa fear exploitation
By Gift Chanda
Mon 09 Apr. 2012, 13:27 CAT

FARMERS in Mumbwa are jittery over anticipated low tobacco prices this year following the dissolution of the Tobacco Board of Zambia.

The Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ), an institution mandated to set tobacco floor prices, has not been operating since January after the government dissolved it and suspended some senior management officials.

Last season saw Grade A tobacco fetching an average of US $2.64 (about K13,000) per kilogramme.

"We foresee a situation where tobacco farmers will be extremely exploited by briefcase traders this marketing season because of the current status at TBZ," Joseph Lwendo, a member of the Mumbwa district farmers association, said in an interview.

"Unless farmers will be allowed to set prices in line with international prices through their various district farmers or tobacco association, we foresee a lot of confusion."

The action to dissolve TBZ was prompted by flaws in the operations of the board emanating from the 2010 Auditor General's report.

Lwendo urged the government to speed up the investigations at TBZ and urgently appoint a board to the institution to prevent farmers from being exploited.

He said tobacco farmers in Mumbwa were worried that if the marketing season were opened without TBZ in place, they would be getting peanuts from tobacco buyers.

"The impact of prices not reflecting the cost of production on the future of the tobacco industry in Zambia will be huge if farmers get poor prices this year too. They will be reluctant to invest their money into farming a crop that is not yielding results," said Lwendo.

"This is why it is critical that the government takes our appeal seriously. They the government have been talking about the need for the country to diversify from maize to other crops but the only sure way to do that is to make these other crops they want to diversify to competitive pricewise."

Labels: LABOUR, TOBACCO

posted by MrK @ 1:26 PM